Man guilty of baseball bat beating - 34-year-old man faces 120 years in 2010 attack

Rented Mule · 25-10-2013 03:56PM #1

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-baseball-bat-attack-trial-1025-20131025,0,7649095.story

The shocking beating of a foreign exchange student and her American friend in a trendy, generally safe Chicago neighborhood in 2010 became an international symbol of the city's violence.

Attacked from behind as they walked under a viaduct in Bucktown after a night celebrating their recent successes, Natasha McShane and Stacy Jurich were each struck on the head by a mugger wielding a baseball bat who snatched their purses and fled.

As Heriberto Viramontes' guilt was announced in a Cook County courtroom Thursday evening, McShane, who was left severely brain damaged by the attack and no can longer speak, was back home in Northern Ireland unaware that a trial had even been going on for the past two weeks.

Jurich, now 25, who had wept on the witness stand while viewing photos of the crime scene, was in the courtroom to hear the verdict and gave a long embrace to McShane's mother after it was read.

"The last 31/2 years have been the hardest time of my entire life," Jurich, wearing a black dress and silver cross necklace, later told reporters as she fought back tears. "It was a struggle for me, but it was a struggle to have to face what happened to my best friend Natasha, something I'll never forget."

"There hasn't been a night that passed in 31/2 years that I didn't wake up in a night terror reliving what happened," said Jurich, now engaged to be married. "To know that this person can never walk on the street with me again is extremely comforting. ... I'm really looking forward to my life going forward."

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated a little more than three hours before convicting Viramontes, 34, on all 10 counts of attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated battery. He faces 120 years in prison. No sentencing date was immediately set.

I couldn't be more delighted with this conviction. There is one absolute POS that will never walk free again.

porsche959 · 25-10-2013 04:09PM

Good, a sentence that fits the crime.

[-0-] · 25-10-2013 04:12PM

If this was in Ireland they'd be out of prison already.

ArnoldJRimmer · 25-10-2013 04:19PM

This was an absolutely appaling crime, and a tragic outcome. An appropriate sentence for an absolute scumbag

Rented Mule · 28-10-2013 05:29PM

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fchicago_news&id=9302997

Community gathers as Bucktown bat beating victims heal; Heriberto Viramontes guilty on all counts in 2010 attack on Natasha McShane, Stacy Jurich

October 27, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A community came together to help two women who were robbed and attacked with a bat to reach a point of healing and forgiveness.

Just days after their attacker was convicted, Stacy Jurich and the family of Natasha McShane gathered for an emotional Sunday mass.

Supporters of Natasha McShane came together Sunday once again, this time to celebrate the guilty verdict of her attacker and to pray for her family as she continues a difficult recovery.

There's a video in the attached article in regards to Stacy Jurich and the support that she has received from the Irish community in Chicago.

MonaPizza · 28-10-2013 05:47PM

Sick bastard will spend the rest of his life behind bars but something inside me says that it might have been better had Natasha died. Her and her family's lives have been ruined. She now just sits by the window and cries everyday. Apparently once in a while, rarely, she has a "good" day when she manages a smile.

Man guilty of baseball bat beating - 34-year-old man faces 120 years in 2010 attack

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