Prosecutors played tapes of jailhouse phone calls Tuesday at the trial of a Chicago man accused of viciously beating two women with a baseball bat and robbing them in 2010.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, jail officials monitored five phone calls from suspect Heriberto Viramontes in 2010 that seemingly implicate him in the attacks.
After being told by the caller that he is being made out to be a monster, Viramontes is heard telling another man that he "did some stupid sh--,” and that “I probably hit her once," while he was high, according to the recording.
Viramontes, 37, is accused of attacking Irish exchange student Natasha McShane and Stacy Jurich in Bucktown in April 2010. He's charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and armed robbery.
Viramontes' former girlfriend, Kira Lundgren, also testified on the stand Tuesday. Lundgren started dating Heriberto Viramontes in 2009 and also knew Marcy Cruz, who is serving an 11-year sentence for driving the getaway car and testified against Viramontes Monday.
Lundgren testified that in the early morning hours after the robbery, a "troubled" Viramontes showed up at her apartment and picked her up in the same van Cruz says was the getaway vehicle. She says Viramontes drove to a gas station and pulled out a credit card.
Prosecutors asked Lundgren why Viramontes appeared agitated, to which he replied, "He was speaking emphatically with his hands."
Defense lawyers countered that it wasn't unusual for Viramontes to be animated when he speaks and talk with his hands.
Lundgren also testified that she went to Cruz's apartment on the afternoon after the attack and noticed high-end makeup that prosecutors believe Viramontes stole from Jurich and McShane.
On cross examination, Lundgren testified she didn't recall seeing any blood on Lundgren or seeing a bat in the van, and that he didn't shower, clean up, change clothes or hide anything at her apartment.
On re-direct, Lundgren described an incident on the afternoon after the attack where Cruz and Viramontes were looking at a newspaper and wouldn't let her see what they were looking at, because she believes they were reading about the attack.
The prosecution planned to play phone calls from jail and call police officers and other experts to the stand before officially resting their case Wednesday morning.
In court Friday, the jury viewed photos of the wooden baseball bat that prosecutors said was used in the attack.
Jurich, 27, took the stand on Thursday and described what happened to her and her friend after a celebratory night of dinner, drinks and dancing.
