The wife of a Vermont man authorities say was killed in a murder-for-hire plot more than four years ago has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the California biotech researcher who federal prosecutors accused last month of ordering the alleged hit.
The lawsuit was brought Tuesday in federal court in Vermont by Melissa Davis on behalf of herself and the estate of her late husband, Gregory Davis of Danville, against Serhat Gumrukcu.
“Mr. Gumrukcu’s actions were outrageous conduct not tolerated in any civilized society,” the seven-page lawsuit states.
“As a direct result of Mr. Gumrukcu’s wrongful acts,” the lawsuit added, ”Melissa Davis lost the care, comfort, love, support, guidance and consortium of her husband, Gregory Davis, and has experienced, and will continue to experience, great emotional distress.”
Andrew Delaney, a Barre attorney representing Melissa Davis, declined comment on the lawsuit when reached Tuesday.
The lawsuit is the latest legal action in a case in which four men have been arrested in the past two months, stemming from an investigation that started in January 2018 after Gregory Davis was kidnapped and shot to death.
Prosecutors alleged in criminal court filings that Gumrukcu wanted Gregory Davis killed because he feared Davis would provide damning information to the FBI, alleging fraud by Gumrukcu in a “multimillion-dollar oil deal” between them.
Had the FBI become aware of the fraud allegations, prosecutors wrote in a court filing, Gumrukcu thought it would jeopardize his ownership stake involving more than $100 million in a California biotechnology company called Enochian BioSciences.
The alleged murder-for-hire plot began to unravel earlier this year with the arrest of Jerry Banks, 34, of Fort Garland, Colorado. Banks pleaded not guilty earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Burlington to a federal kidnapping charge in the January 2018 abduction of Gregory Davis.
Banks hasn’t been charged in Davis’ death, but prosecutors portray Banks in court filings as the hitman in a scheme to kill Davis.
In addition to Banks, three other men have been arrested over the past two months for their alleged roles in the plot, including Gumrukcu, 39, of Los Angeles; Berks Eratay, 35, of Las Vegas; and Aron Lee Ethridge, 41, of Henderson, Nevada.
All four men are being held in jail while awaiting further court hearings.
Prosecutors alleged Banks, posing as a U.S. marshal, kidnapped Davis from his home in Danville on Jan. 6, 2018. The next day, according to prosecutors, Davis was found handcuffed and shot to death in a snowbank in Barnet, about 15 miles from his Danville home.
The lawsuit seeks a court order calling on Gumrukcu to “deliver $25 million” in the stock of Enochian Biosciences Inc. — the California biotechnology company in which he had an ownership stake — to the court clerk and for the clerk to retain it while the lawsuit remains pending.
The lawsuit claims it is “highly likely” the jury will award “substantial damages on account of the fear and horror Mr. Davis experienced in the time between his kidnapping and execution by Mr. Banks.”
In addition, the filing states, “A verdict in excess of $25 million would surprise no one familiar with litigation in Vermont, although, it should be noted, it would (be) difficult, if not impossible, to find a case comparable to the present case.”
Authorities said they used cellphone data and surveillance footage from businesses to gather evidence pointing to Banks as the alleged kidnapper. As the investigation moved forward, prosecutors said they uncovered connections among all four men changed in the case.
Banks was friends with Ethridge, and prosecutors alleged that, after Banks killed Davis, Ethridge was the first person he called. Prosecutors said Ethridge was a friend of Eratay, and Eratay worked for Gumrukcu.
Gumrukcu and Eratay are both charged with conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of the murder scheme. If convicted, each faces a mandatory life sentence and possibly the death penalty.
Ethridge has been charged with conspiring with Banks to kidnap Davis.
