Paul Hammel
WILBER, Nebraska — After hearing testimony over 16 days, a jury here took less than eight hours to find Eric Ramos guilty of first-degree murder in the “mob” slaying of a fellow inmate during a 2017 riot at the Tecumseh State Prison.
Ramos, 33, was also found guilty Tuesday of use of a deadly weapon and concealing evidence in the death of 31-year-old Michael Galindo, who was found dead in his smoke-filled cell after being beaten by a group of inmates and stabbed by at least four inmates.
A second inmate, Damon Fitzgerald, was also found dead following the riot, which was sparked when prison authorities began searching cells in a high-security housing unit for illegal stashes of “hooch,” a crude alcohol brewed by inmates.
Prosecutors from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office did not comment after the verdict from the jury of six men and six women, but a statement from that office expressed gratitude for the verdict and the “hard work” of the jury over the past month.
Tim Noerrlinger, one of Ramos’ attorneys, said he was disappointed by the verdict but that “there’s some pretty viable appeal issues.”
Mistrial motion denied
One came up during the trial, in which prosecutors handed over statements on the 15th day of the trial that were made by two brothers who were inmates at Tecumseh. Noerrlinger moved for a mistrial, maintaining that the statements contradicted the testimony of one of the brothers earlier in the trial. The motion was denied.
Members of the Galindo family filed out of the Saline County Courthouse after the verdict, telling a reporter they were withholding comment until after Ramos is sentenced. He faces a mandatory life sentence for the slaying.
District Judge Rick Schreiner set Feb. 2 for sentencing.
Galindo was beaten and stabbed repeatedly — over 130 times according to an autopsy — in a savage attack by what prosecutors described as a “mob” that was mostly captured on surveillance video. Galindo eventually took refuge in his cell, but inmates broke out the window on the cell door and started a smoky fire within the room. Galindo eventually died of smoke inhalation.
Inmates ‘played God’
The lead prosecutor, Corey O’Brien of the Attorney General’s Office, told jurors Monday during closing arguments that a motive for the slaying of Galindo may never be known.
“All we know is that a group of inmates on that day decided to play God,” he said.
A big question now is whether more inmates might be charged for the prison riot murders. During the trial, attorneys named at least three other inmates they suspected might have been involved, yet Ramos has been the only inmate charged in the two deaths.
The Ramos case was delayed by several years after an initial trial, in 2018, ended in a mistrial, and asattorneys awaited rulings on appeals spawned by the first trial.
The trial hinged on the credibility of a prison intelligence officer — who testified that she was 100% sure Ramos could be seen on surveillance video attacking Galindo — and whether sometimes grainy video of the initial assault and stabbing showed who was involved. During the rampage, inmates wore towels over their faces and stocking caps, making identification difficult, and some surveillance cameras were disabled or had blind spots.
The jurors began deliberating at 2:20 p.m. Monday and worked till 8:30 p.m., then announced that they had reached a decision at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, after about 90 minutes of discussion.
The 2017 riot was one of two that rocked the rural prison in Tecumseh. Two years earlier, on Mother’s Day, an inmate uprising began after a disturbance on the prison yard. Two inmates were found dead after that riot, which also caused millions of dollars of damage to the prison. No one has been charged in those slayings.