The United States took the convicted murderer Dahud Hanid Ortiz as part of Venezuela-el Salvador Prisoner Exchange

The United States Department of State does not explain why a man found guilty of the murder of three people in Madrid was one of the 10 American citizens released by Venezuela last week as part of a exchange of prisoners.

Dahud Hanid Ortiz, an American veteran who served in Iraq, was condemned in absentia in Spain to have killed two Cuban women and an Ecuadorian in 2016.

Ortiz, who is an American citizen born in Venezuelan, fled to the South American country after committing crime. The government of Venezuela rejected Request for extradition from Spain because its constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens. Instead, Ortiz was tried in Venezuela.

A spokesperson for the State Department wrote in a statement sent by email to NBC News that “the United States had the possibility of guaranteeing the release of all the Americans detained in Venezuela, many of whom have been submitted to torture and other difficult conditions. For reasons of confidentiality, I will not fall into the details of a specific case. ”

The Venezuelan government released the 10 Americans last week last week, as well as Venezuelan political prisoners, in exchange for more than 250 Venezuelan migrants that the Trump administration had sent to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador in March. The three -country agreement involved the governments of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Nayib Bukele in Salvador and President Donald Trump.

“Each American wrongly in Venezuela is now free and back in our country of origin,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio statement Last week.

Friday, two photos published by the State Department show the 10 Americans released, including Ortiz, holding an American flag.

Ortiz received a Heart purple and was dishonorably released after making a false official declaration and a flight, among the Other charges.

Ortiz was married to a German woman whom he met when she was parked at the American base of Schweinfurt, according to the Spanish newspaper The country. They separated later and she developed a relationship with a lawyer in Madrid. Ortiz is accused of going to the law office and killing three of its employees. The lawyer with whom Ortiz’s wife would have had a relationship with the office at the time.