The testimony of the main accused in the crime of Samuel Luiz lasted barely ten minutes. He refused to answer the questions of the accusations and did not want to know anything about those of the lawyers of his four colleagues in the judiciary. He only responded to his lawyer. And in an express interrogation, punctuated by a few tears, he asked for forgiveness from the victim’s family: “What I want is to ask for forgiveness from Samuel’s family and from everyone. If I hadn’t started, none of this would have happened. And he would still be alive.
But the fact that he apologized for launching the attack in no way implies that Diego Montaña admits his guilt. In reality, in substance, what he did, during the seventeenth session of the trial, which is taking place at the Provincial Court of La Coruña, is admitting that it was he who initiated the attack and claiming that he was completely drunk. But he says he only remembers hitting the victim in the first moments. Various “punches and kicks”, yes.
Samuel and his friend Lina, who that night of July 2 to 3 had gone to party in La Coruña without disturbing anyone, left the Andén pub, on the Riazor promenade, and started to make a video call with a friend who , the night he didn’t go out. It was at that moment that Diego Montaña, as he admitted this Wednesday during the trial, attacked the victim: “I saw a couple recording, the next image I have in head, it’s me hitting.” “The image I have is that I’m already hitting Samuel, I don’t know if it’s a kick or a punch,” added.
Diego Montaña risks 25 years in prison, because in addition to the murder committed with cruelty and treason, the accusations add the aggravating circumstance of discrimination based on sex. According to the prosecutor’s thesis, supported by several eyewitnesses, Diego Montaña would have called Samuel a “faggot” while threatening to kill him, before attacking him.
But the accused did not refer to this moment nor did his lawyer question him about it. His story skips this episode: “I left the Andén pub, I continued straight, the stairs were next to me, “I saw some tapes, and the next image I have is me punching.” What he remembers is that he drank, practically alone, a bottle of whiskey mixed with Red Bull in the pub stall. The gang had ordered a bottle for two friends, and he shared it with Catherine Silva, his partner at the time and now also accused: “I drank almost the whole bottle, because Kathy was not a big drinker of d “alcohol,” he said.
“I will never forget it”
In short, this is what Diego Montaña says he remembers: that he drank a lot and that he admits to being at the origin of the attack. But a little more. The next thing he says he remembers is the victim already being beaten. “I’m the walk, I’m through the run, and I see an image that I will never get out of my head: Samuel’s body lying on his stomach, with several people beside him.», limited himself to saying the one who is perhaps the main accused of the crime.
(in development)
