Triple Murderer Among Americans Repatriated From Venezuela in Prisoner Swap
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The Trump administration has long insisted that America should not be a haven for criminals. Last week, it brought one home.
Dahud Hanid Ortiz — a Venezuelan-born American citizen and former U.S. Marine convicted of a brutal triple murder in Spain — was among 10 Americans repatriated from Venezuela in a high-profile prisoner exchange between the White House and the South American government.
Ortiz was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the triple homicide that took place in Madrid in 2016, according to Venezuelan court documents and Spanish media, which also reported that Spain had sought his extradition. However, the Venezuelan Constitution bans the extradition of its citizens, so he was tried in Venezuela, which allows prosecutions for crimes committed abroad.
Why It Matters
Venezuela on Friday released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in exchange for the return of dozens of Venezuelan migrants who had been deported in March by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, officials said.
Venezuela on Friday released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown,...
Venezuela on Friday released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, officials said. More
U.S. State Department
The Venezuelans had been held in the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT — a massive prison built to detain alleged gang members as part of President Bukele's war on gangs. Trump had invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act, a wartime law, to swiftly deport the men, accusing them of ties to the violent Tren de Aragua street gang.
However, the administration did not provide evidence to back up those claims.
What To Know
In a bitter irony, while the Trump administration has championed the deportation of migrants accused of minor crimes and condemned countries for sheltering fugitives, it repatriated Ortiz as part of a deal it billed as a humanitarian breakthrough.
"We delivered murderers for you," Venezuelan minister Diosdado Cabello told the deportees aboard their flight home. "They were in hell. Today they are in Venezuela."
Spanish media reports first identified one of the men as Ortiz, 51, as a fugitive wanted in Spain for one of Madrid's most shocking crimes in recent memory — the murders of two Cuban women and an Ecuadorian man in a law office.
Investigators say Ortiz, driven by jealousy over his ex-partner, stalked her and her new boyfriend, hacked her devices, and planted microphones before traveling to Madrid and killing three innocent people he mistakenly thought were connected to her.
A State Department photo shows some of the 10 Americans freed from Venezuela returning to the U.S. this month. Dahud Hanid Ortiz is at center right, holding a small flag.
A State Department photo shows some of the 10 Americans freed from Venezuela returning to the U.S. this month. Dahud Hanid Ortiz is at center right, holding a small flag.
U.S. State Department
According to a 2021 report of Infobae, Ortiz used a combat knife and an iron bar to stab and bludgeon lawyer Elisa Consuegra Gálvez, secretary Maritza Osorio Riverón, and client John Pepe Castillo Vega, then set the office on fire and left fake cartel calling cards to mislead investigators.
After fleeing to Germany and then to Venezuela, he lived under false names until his 2018 arrest by Venezuelan intelligence agents.
Venezuelan authorities initially believed Ortiz was an American spy and tortured him before acknowledging Spain's extradition request, El País reported. The Venezuelan Supreme Court denied extradition in 2019, promising he would face trial locally — a trial that never happened.
The Trump administration has not clarified how Ortiz came to be listed as a "wrongfully detained" American. When Newsweek reached out to the State Department for comment on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson declined to comment on the specific case of Ortiz: "We were able to secure the release of all Americans detained in Venezuela; many of whom reported being subjected to torture and other harsh conditions."
A Troubled Past
Dahud Hanid Ortiz was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 1970 but later renounced his Venezuelan citizenship to become an American and eventually also acquired German nationality, Infobae reported. He served in the Marines, deploying to Iraq and Korea, and was awarded the Purple Heart before being dishonorably discharged in 2011 for falsifying documents, fraud and theft to obtain benefits and promotions.
Fluent in Spanish, English, German and Russian, Ortiz settled in Germany after his discharge and began a relationship with German doctor Irina Trippel. But his behavior became increasingly controlling and abusive, according to Spanish investigators. When Trippel left him for Peruvian attorney Víctor Salas, Ortiz stalked her obsessively, hacked her phone and computer, and even planted listening devices in her home, Spanish media reported.
His fixation escalated until he traveled to Madrid in June 2016 and murdered three people in what investigators called a meticulously planned but tragically misdirected act of vengeance.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X about the prisoner exchange: "Thanks to POTUS's leadership, ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom. I want to thank my team at the State Department & especially President Nayib Bukele for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees, plus the release of Venezuelan political prisoners."
The Venezuelan government, in a statement on Friday afternoon: "Venezuela has paid a high price to secure the freedom of these compatriots, through an exchange with the authorities of the United States of America of a group of U.S. citizens who were at the disposal of the justice system, for their proven involvement in serious crimes against the peace, independence, and security of the Nation."
What Happens Next
According to El País, there are suspicions that Ortiz falsified evidence to present himself not as a murderer, but as a political prisoner or a U.S. spy, in order to be included in the prisoner exchange.
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