Hall Returns to U.S., Apologizes to Nicaragua

Sam Nesley Hall, a self-styled soldier of fortune accused of spying in Nicaragua, flew home to the United States today after telling the Nicaraguan people he was sorry he “tried to ambush them.”

He left Nicaragua this morning and stopped in San Jose, Costa Rica, before arriving in Miami about 12:25 p.m.

Hall left the plane with several men and was led quickly to a waiting van, which then drove away.

Rep. Tony P. Hall (D-Ohio) was in Miami today to greet his brother. An airport spokeswoman said that she understood that the congressman was waiting for his brother in the van.

Earlier, Hall had delivered a parting message to Nicaragua.

“I just have one thing to say to the Nicaraguan people,” the 49-year-old Hall told reporters after being released from custody. “I’m sorry I tried to ambush them.”

Not Mistreated

Hall, who had been held since his arrest Dec. 12 but was never tried on spy charges, said he was not mistreated during his detention, adding, “Prison authorities were terrific. They treated me like a human being.”

Family lawyer Gary Froelich said Hall’s family was trying to arrange for him to receive a complete medical examination in Miami before going on to Dayton.

At the White House, presidential spokesman Larry Speakes said of Hall’s release: “They should have done it earlier.”

Hall was arrested in a restricted area of the Punta Huete air base, 13 miles northeast of Managua. Authorities said they found maps and sketches of military targets stuffed in his socks, and threatened to try him for espionage.

Released for Treatment

But Javier Chamorro Mora, deputy foreign minister, said Tuesday night that Hall was being released “so he may be taken to the United States and receive adequate treatment at a specialized institution.”

He said a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist had found Hall to be “a very unstable personality . . . inclined to carry out acts that could end his own life.”

Hall has said he was paid $12,500 for his mission and worked for a previously unknown group called the Phoenix Battalion.

He served in the Ohio House in 1964-65 and was an Olympic silver medalist in springboard diving in 1960 in Rome.

He once belonged to Civilian Military Assistance of Decatur, Ala., a private organization formed three years ago to help the contra rebels.

The director of the organization, Thomas Posey, said his group had disassociated itself from Hall 18 months earlier. He described Hall as “a Rambo type” working alone in an attempt to overshadow his congressman brother.