In October 2019, our community lost our friend Munky at the hands of a murderer name Alberto Calcurian. The loss to our community resulted in one of the biggest celebrations of life seen in Denver in several years. The fundraiser raised enough funds that Munky was able to be buried in Florida by his parents but didn’t leave much for his son Marcus or the estate to deal with the after math of such a tragic loss. But the story doesn’t end there.
For Munky’s family and friends starts the beginning of the criminal aspect of Munky’s death. In these types of situations, the family of the deceased must make sure that the victim’s voice continues to be heard and that the Defendant, Judge and District Attorney continually see the family at every Court proceeding.
On December 20th riders gathered at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse to ride to Denver District Court in solidarity and to support Marcus Berman, Munky’s son. It was the accused shooter’s first court appearance. All attendees proudly displayed their Bikers Lives Matter t-shirts so that we could quietly and respectfully let the Court know we were there to support the deceased victim.
Rider’s arrived at the Denver courthouse and headed up to the Courtroom. Many of us weren’t sure what our reaction would be when Mr. Calcurian was brought out for the first time, but one thing was clear … we wouldn’t let our attendance distract from what we hoped to accomplish that day. Mr. Calcurian was being transported over from the jail, and we all waited patiently, but the stress on Marcus’ face was clear that he is doing everything in his power to keep it together. The Courtroom began to fill up with law enforcement officers and the last count we had was 13 officers had come in from all directions in the courtroom. We soon learned that they really weren’t there for us because we were bikers, they were there to support Munky and for all the years that Munky helped law enforcement bikers.
That was the beauty of Munky, he lived a life by his own rules, and no-one defined who he was. He only cared that a biker was on the side of the road. Whether you were an independent, sport bike, Harley, group or club. Munky would always be there to get you & your bike safely off the road.
Mr. Calcurian finally appeared in Court and you could hear a pin drop. It was a very short proceeding as his defense attorneys were asking for a mental health exam be done to determine Mr. Calcurian’s mental state to stand trial. As someone who worked in the legal field for over 14 years, this motion for the examination is standard procedure in these types of cases. The murder of Munky was so egregious and so incomprehensible to the normal person … that the Court on the side of caution always grants these types of Motions
The Judge was extremely informative and respectful to gallery of riders in the courtroom. He acknowledged our pain and grief and went out of his way to explain why the Court wasn’t proceeding that day.
The next court hearing will be a status conference that will present to the Court the results of the psychological evaluation and is scheduled for February 21st, 2020 in courtroom 4H at the Denver District Court Building in Downtown Denver.
Family will keep the community updated if there is another gathering of riders heading up to the courthouse. Colorado Rider News will continue to keep our community updated on any future updates on this case.
