José Francisco González Salas, 69, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing Jose Alonso Romero Picado, 39, at the time driver for the Ministro de la Presidencia, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, in a road rage dispute, back in September 2013.
The sentence was handed down on April 13 by the Tribunal de Juicio de Goicoechea (Goicoechea Trial Court), and confirmed on Friday by the Press Office of the Poder Judicial.
The three-judge trial court also imposed precautionary measures on Gonzalez for a period of six months – to sign every 15 days in a judicial office and cannot leave the country – during the appeal period that expires on October 13, 2018. Gonzalez is also to the victim’s family ¢25 million colones (US$45,000) for moral damages.
What happened?
In the afternoon September 19, 2013, in Calles Blancos de Goicoechea, in front of the former Bayer plant, now occupied by the Servicio Nacional de Aguas Subterráneas, Riego y Advenamiento (Senara), in traffic, Gonzalez slams in to the rear of the car driven by Romero, a Honda 4×4 registered to the Ministerio de la Presidencia (a government car).
According to witnesses, after Gonzalez slams his Hyundai Tucson into the Honda, Romero got out of his car in a rage, threatening Gonzalez who pulled out a gun and shot Romero.
Romero died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics.
The closure of the Circunvalacion in the area of Hatillo 8, due to a sinkhole in the road, became a nightmare for drivers, who frequently got into disputes.
The situation got so bad, to the point the government was forced to decree a change in the work schedule of public sector employees to alleviate the congestion.
Source (in Spanish): La Nacion
