worker and her daughter, and Deras García’s sister-in-law, Elba Flores Ortiz, 31 who was told that they were looking for weapons and for the whereabouts of Deras García. Herminio Deras García, his wife, and their two children, Lorena Deras Flores 32 and Herminio Deras Flores, arrived during the raid. 33 Upon his entry into the house, a gun was pointed at Deras García, with threats to kill him. He managed to escape 34 by jumping over the outer wall that surrounded his home, and was then chased by eight police vehicles. His wife and sister-inlaw were taken to the DNI offices (infra paras. 53 and 54). The home of Herminio Deras García was “machine gunned” on January 1, 1982 by 43. unidentified persons, leaving 18 bullet holes. The telephone lines had been malfunctioning since the night before. His home was under surveillance starting on September 23, 1982, when state security agents moved into a vacant house nearby. 44. Deras García talked to his father, Domingo Deras, 35 on January 26, 1983, and told him that traffic officers had stopped him and recorded his vehicle’s license plate number. Later, on January 28, 1983, while he was at the home of a trade-union acquaintance, his vehicle was searched by then-officer Marco Tulio Regalado Hernández and others. 45. In the early morning hours of January 29, 1983, while Herminio Deras García was driving his vehicle through the Las Flores neighborhood in San Pedro Sula, he was stopped and searched by a traffic officer under orders by the head of Battalion 3-16, Captain R.C.N., to conduct an operation of document checks in order to “arrest a terrorist and put him in the custody of the security force.” While Deras García’s vehicle was being searched, two members of Battalion 3-16, including then-officer Marco Tulio Regalado Hernández, entered his car. 46. The traffic officer had reportedly seen Deras García driving his car afterward, along with the two members of Battalion 3-16, and a few moments later, while he was buying coffee at a nearby market, the traffic officer heard gunfire. He went to the scene and found Herminio Deras García lifeless inside the vehicle. According to eyewitnesses, one of the individuals said to Deras García: “you’re the troublemaker we have been looking for,” whereupon Deras García had started a fistfight with his captors, who were attempting to move him into another vehicle, and when they could not do it, they had shot him multiple times and killed him. The commander of the Third Police Precinct of the Las Flores neighborhood arrived on 47. the scene. The body of Herminio Deras García was moved to the Leonardo Martínez Hospital morgue, but not taken inside. After the body was examined by the coroner, the commander told the press that the vehicle of the “criminals” had passed in front of his police station. Later on, Otilia Flores Ortiz had gone to the morgue to claim her husband’s body 36 and learned that there had been no autopsy; she subsequently requested the services of Dr. Turcios for this 31 Elba Flores Ortiz was 23 years old at the time. 32 Lorena Deras Flores was 11 years old at the time. 33 Herminio Deras Flores was 7 years old at the time. Otilia Flores Ortiz said, “...that time Herminio got away thanks to the fact that when they were about to attack him with the machine guns they were pointing at him, my children threw their arms around him and then they couldn’t shoot at him.” Statement by Otilia Flores Ortiz in the public hearing on the instant case. 35 Domingo Deras was a builder by trade, and in 1983, he had a business in cement bocks and tile, as well as a carpentry business since 1981. He lived with his family in the San Francisco del Progreso neighborhood, Yoro. 36 Otilia Flores Ortiz described the experience as follows: “I went to pick up [Herminio Deras García] where I was told he had fallen, I took my children along […] to have them with me. When I arrived, they had already taken him to the morgue. They didn’t want to admit him into the morgue, and when I arrived, he still had gunshot wounds, they had him in the bed of the vehicle, gunned down, and my children saw that, all I remember is Lorena crying, and little Herminio clutching his little fists, clenching his teeth, crying, it was terrible, and I can never forget it, it is etched into my mind.” Statement by Otilia Flores Ortiz, supra. 34