They call him the “Butcher of Jinotega.” Basil Edsel Givner is an expat from the United States who was convicted of the gruesome murder of Harley Silva Soza, a 34-year old man who was found decapitated and cut into eight parts in Jinotega, a coffee-producing region of Nicaragua.

According to a news report by S. Ruiz of La Prensa, a major daily newspaper in Nicaragua, the presence of the convicted killer at the Victoria Motta hospital in Jinotega is making inpatients nervous. Givner was first admitted into this hospital four months ago due to high blood pressure symptoms, but he was later kept in the medical center due to an abdominal hernia that required surgical treatment.

A nurse who was interviewed by La Prensa explained that some patients have not been able to sleep for fear that “The Butcher” may be a hungry cannibal. Previous reports by La Prensa on the arrest and trial of Givner, who confessed to the murder and the horrific dismemberment, do not indicate that the U.S. expat may have cannibalistic tendencies.

A visitor to the hospital complained that “The Butcher” was getting preferential treatment in comparison to other inmates in Nicaragua. Others complained that the police officers who are supposed to guard him actually go to the store to get soft drinks when he requests them.

Although the convicted expat was sentenced to serve 15 years in a correctional center located south of Matagalpa, prison officials denied him entry, and thus he was remanded to the custody of the Jinotega Police Department. The judge who sentenced him has ordered an immediate situation report to determine what should be done.

The mother of the victim, who resides in Northern California, is concerned that the man convicted of killing her son might be providing bribes to the police officers who are assigned to keep him in custody.