JUSTICE

Nicaragua Court Convicts Orlando Tercero of Murdering New York Nursing Student Haley Anderson

Nicaraguan-American Orlando Tercero was found guilty of the 2018 murder in a trial built on video-link testimony from the U.S.

A Nicaragua court convicted dual U.S.-Nicaraguan citizen Orlando Tercero of the 2018 murder of his then-girlfriend Haley Anderson, a nursing student at the time, late Friday. The trial was a rare example of bilateral cooperation with Broome County District Attorney’s office in New York instrumental in securing vital testimony via video link to the Nicaragua courtroom. Tercero, 23, and Anderson, 22, dated but when Anderson tried to break up, Tercero allegedly strangled her in his bed, according to court testimony. Tercero fled to Nicaragua the day after Anderson’s body was found, but because that nation does not allow the extradition of its citizens, the trial was held there. Anderson’s father said that the conviction offered “some ease to the heartache and a little bit of conclusion.” He said he wants Tercero to receive the maximum 30-year sentence for femicide murder in Nicaragua. “I mean it’s not over, and there will always be an emptiness that’s there,” he said. “But it was nice to see that Nicaragua did a really professional, bang up job to get the job done.”