Families Request 1.7 billion Colones in Monteverde Assault Case
Survivors and family members of victims in the Banco Nacional of Monteverde assault have filed claims for 1,700,000,000 colones ($3.4 million) against the assailant Erly Hurtado, Banco Nacional, the State and the security company Delta S.A.
The highest amount claimed is by the family of Mario Lopez, a bus ticket vendor who died in the assault. They claim 800 million colones in damages. His parents, Emilce Miranda and Jorge López, ask ¢100 million for suffering damages and another ¢100 million because their son helped maintain them. Each sibling, Maritza, Marta y José Luis López is asking ¢100 millones for pain and suffering too. Among the proof offered is the testimony of Steven Villegas, a survivor who saw Mario López in pain.
Lawyers Andrés Pérez and William Guido, gave to the Attorney General’s office a request for indemnization of 25 million colones plus 30 million for pain and suffering on behalf of Alexánder Arguedas, Gerardo Suárez, Ingrid Ulate, Eduardo Rodríguez, Francisco Figuerola, Bertha Weckshell (foreigner), and Carelia Medina.
Ricaurte Jiménez, and his client Gerardo Céspedes, have claimed ¢435 millones. " We think that the bank’s clients entered the branch to make normal transactions, not to be killed, mutilated or held hostage."
Young Steven Villegas, who was shot and escaped on one foot from the massacre, asked for ¢80 millones: ¢30 million for material damages and the rest for pain and suffering.
Cashier Nancy Ramírez, the last hostage released, confirmed that she did not submit any claim. "What I had to ask for, I asked for from God and the Virgin of the Angels inside the bank. He gave it to me, he let me get out alive and gave me a healthy daughter. What I want is to be at peace, no money will give me back my friend (Rosa) nor my co-worker (Juan Pablo), nor will it erase all the memories of that day. God will know what to do with this person (Hurtado)", said Ramírez.