Update: US Embassy Confims Groves Was Raped

If the murder of former Portland salon owner Lemon Groves in her Nicaraguan home on May 28 wasn't horrible enough, there are now the confirmed details of rape and a possible cover up.

On June 7 the US Embassy in Nicaragua (which has been working on the case along with U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Gordon Smith's offices) told Groves' son-in-law Erik Opsahl that test results from Groves' autopsy indicate she had been sexually violated.

Opsahl had told Portland KXL Radio and WW earlier that local police authorities were denying the existence of hair and semen they had taken to forensics.

Suspect Carlos Alberto Aguilar, 21, confessed to the murder, but denied charges of rape. Opsahl explains that Nicaragua has no death penalty for murder, but a maximum sentence of 30 years. However, if a rape is involved, the sentence could be higher.

“His uncle is the equivalent of the DA and his aunt is an attorney,” says Opsahl. “They have a lot of pull with the police department.”