US soldier jailed 30 years for Panama girl murder

 AN AMERICAN soldier was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment by a military jury  on Tuesday March 29 for the murder of a Panamanian college student with whom he was having an affair while training Panama police .

Sergeant Velez Pagan  murdered  Panamanian Vanessa Rodriguez in June 2014.

Prosecutor Vanessa Strobbe in her final arguments asked for  life imprisonment for Pagan. The jury, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina was composed of majors and colonels. The soldier will serve his sentence in a military prison.

The sentence includes dishonorable discharge and suspension of pay.

Rodriguez’s body was found by a Panama police officer on a farm near the river Guararé province of Los Santos. It lay alongside a shovel, pick axe and a bag of  white lime.

A total of 75 people, including relatives of Rodriguez and witnesses traveled last week from Panama to North Carolina to be present at the trial. Which began March 22.