In San Valero, the dawn brought a tragic turn for a taxi driver who had stopped his night to enjoy the festive atmosphere. Cristian, aged 42, was not at work when the incident unfolded; his decision to savor the moment near Zaragosa’s patron saint celebration ended in a fatal blow. The assailant, a Canary Islands resident named Wolfando Devora, accepted a two-year prison sentence for reckless murder on a Monday, marking a somber close to a case that stunned the local community.
The accused was not jailed immediately. He was released on order after his initial arrest, and the 4th High Criminal Court of Zaragoza later decided to suspend the sentence. The result: no immediate prison time, provided Devora paid 100,000 euros in compensation to Cristian’s family. To date, despite the clear establishment of authorship and the two-year sentence, the civil-liability payment remains unsettled, a detail emphasized by Cristian’s family through their lawyer, José Luis Melguizo.
Neither participant knew the other, yet both were out with friends that night at Gran Café Zaragozano. Just after 2:00 a.m., a dispute erupted between the two groups, prompting staff to eject everyone onto the street. An off-duty national police officer in the vicinity confronted the aggressive behavior, removing his badge to attempt calm. Instead, the situation escalated: Devora punched Cristian in the face, leaving him unconscious with a serious head injury. Surveillance footage from nearby venues, including the pub and La Pulpería at the entrance to El Tubo, captured the confrontation.
Defense arguments and the aftermath
As the investigation progressed, the defense team, Enrique Trebolle and Francisco García Berenguer, contended that their client did not intend to cause death. They pointed to alcohol and a high-energy night as contributing factors and argued that intent was absent. The outcome, announced on a recent Monday, reduced the potential imprisonment from three years to two years as part of a settlement intended to provide compensation to the victim’s family. The defense lawyers also noted that the civil-claim portion of the case required payment beyond the criminal settlement, an obligation that has not yet been fulfilled.
Since the events occurred in 2020, the Ministry of Defense placed the involved serviceman on suspended status, initiating a temporary file within the ministry. Complications in the case extend beyond the criminal verdict: Devora is currently in training to join the Civil Guard, a path that will be disrupted by the criminal record created by this incident. The legal and professional consequences thus ripple through both the personal and the public service spheres, shaping ongoing discussions about accountability and consequences for actions taken in moments of intoxication and conflict.