Navy veteran freed after 13 years in Mexican prison for murder he didn’t commit

A U.S. Navy veteran imprisoned in Mexico for greater than 13 years for against the law he didn’t commit is now a unfastened guy after a pass judgement on overturned his conviction on Wednesday in the town of Acapulco.

“I’m so happy to be out and going home and be reunited with my family and to start my life again. I’m so grateful for my second chance,” 46-year-old James Frisvold advised ABC News completely after he walked unfastened on Thursday from the infamous Las Cruces prison.

Frisvold headed again to his local California, the place he was once set to be reunited together with his mom, sister and uncle at a personal airport.

His unencumber was once secured via months of unofficial international relations orchestrated via Jonathan Franks, a circle of relatives consultant who labored with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, now head of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement. Both had been provide when Frisvold left Las Cruces.

“For years, the Frisvolds tried and failed to get the attention of three successive U.S. administrations and repeatedly related his torture and his innocence to the consular agents in Acapulco to no avail,” Franks advised ABC News on Wednesday. “As a result of this ordeal, Mr. Frisvold hopes to start a conversation with policymakers around how to better address cases like his.”

Cases like his — of an blameless American left to languish in some other nation’s felony justice device — are much less transparent minimize than the ones Americans that the U.S. State Department deems wrongfully detained via rogue regimes who incessantly use them for bargaining chips. But in step with Franks, there are way more of them and their instances require intervention, too.

Frisvold have been imprisoned for the 2010 killing of Natalya Sidorova, a Russian citizen married to American Jerry Schultz. Frisvold mentioned in interviews with ABC News that the 3 of them traveled to Acapulco after Schultz promised Frisvold, an acquaintance, a task once they returned to Sacramento.

But whilst Schultz and Sidorova had been strolling down a corridor in their resort, she was once brutally attacked via an unknown male assailant, in step with surveillance photos bought via ABC News. The video seems to turn Schultz stood via as the person stabbed her again and again, and after the killer fled, Schultz went into his resort room, returned with a bucket of ice and dumped it on her frame.

After a bystander spotted the scene, Schultz perceived to name for assist, in step with the surveillance photos. Court filings reviewed via ABC News display he later known Frisvold because the assailant, however each males had been arrested via native government and charged in Sidorova’s slaying.

Frisvold admitted to the crime right through interrogation, then later mentioned he was once tortured and compelled to signal a confession that he says was once written for him, in step with each the courtroom data and what Franks advised ABC News.

Frisvold has since maintained his innocence however was once caught in prison for 13 years of sophisticated complaints in a language he nonetheless does not perceive. He was once first convicted of certified murder in 2017, even after a government-employed criminologist testified that Frisvold may now not be the person in the surveillance photos on account of variations in their cranium construction and facial options, in step with the courtroom paperwork.

That conviction was once in the end thrown out in 2019 via a state appeals courtroom, which dominated that Frisvold’s rights had been violated right through the trial. But as a substitute of being launched, the native prosecutor retried Frisvold, the place a 2d government-employed criminologist testified in 2019 it will now not be he in the surveillance photos of the grisly killing.

Still, the courtroom complaints stalled, with little motion and no resolution in his case.

That after all modified with Wednesday’s resolution on account of weeks of what Richardson’s staff known as “careful and diligent engagement with the appropriate authorities.” A neighborhood pass judgement on discovered him now not accountable and ordered his unencumber. (Authorities say Schultz died in prison in 2015, however no post-mortem was once ever carried out.)

During Frisvold’s early years in prison, his father, additionally named James Frisvold, visited a couple of instances, urging native officers to unencumber him. But the elder Frisvold’s efforts failed to draw a lot preliminary consideration and he died in February 2020 — a loss that the U.S. Navy veteran nonetheless has bother speaking about.

His mom, Mariann Frisvold, was once decided to not face the similar destiny as her husband — demise with out ever hugging their son once more. Earlier this 12 months, she employed Franks, who has a background in public members of the family and has labored with different Americans detained out of the country, to tackle her son’s case after again and again sending him messages and emails.

“If he gets out, is it going to be because I read a Twitter message. Is it that arbitrary?” Franks mentioned in an interview previous this month, right through one in all 3 journeys to Acapulco and the state capital, Chilpancingo, to foyer native officers on Frisvold’s behalf.

Franks labored with the Richardson Center, which has helped safe the liberty of a handful of detained Americans, together with Taylor Dudley, some other U.S. Navy veteran who was once launched via Russian government in January after what are referred to as track-two negotiations. Franks prior to now served because the circle of relatives consultant for imprisoned U.S. veterans together with Trevor Reed and Michael White, who had been detained via Russia and Iran, respectively.

“This is proof to me that what I’ve always suspected was true — that if we could just do boots on the ground where the person is locked up and have a fair chance at making an argument, we could bring home a lot of people. And that’s what happened here,” Franks mentioned in the sooner interview.

In explicit, Franks has blamed the State Department, together with its consular administrative center in Acapulco, for now not paying larger consideration to Frisvold’s case.

A State Department spokesperson advised ABC News that they’re “aware” of Frisvold’s unencumber however presented no additional remark.

ABC News may have a lot more unique protection of Frisvold’s case after embedding with the hassle to unfastened him. Tune into ABC’s “Nightline” and ABC News Live Prime for extra.