Berger, Esdrelon fate known today

CEBU, Philippines - Lawyer Salvador Solima is optimistic that his clients Norwegian engineer Sven Erik Berger and Cebuana nurse Karen Esdrelon will be freed from detention later today as the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office is expected to resolve the criminal complaints for kidnapping with homicide.

Berger and Esdrelon have been detained at the Cebu Provincial Police Office since February 12 following their arrest at the Mactan Cebu International Airport for the kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique.

Solima said he is confident that the couple will be exonerated from the charges because they are innocent. In fact, the National Bureau of Investigation, the country’s premier investigating agency, have found evidence validating their claims of their whereabouts during the time Pique was snatched by a female and a Caucasian companion on board a black Sports Utility Vehicle outside the Calajoan Elementary School in Minglanilla last February 8 in the afternoon.

According to Solima, he expects a resolution dismissing the complaints today.

On the contrary, lawyer Roque Amante Jr., counsel for the Pique family, is expecting a finding of probable cause to indict the suspects before the Regional Trial Court of the crime of kidnapping with homicide.

Amante believes that they have a strong case against Berger and Esdrelon because they were positively identified by three minor witnesses. Amante said the suspects are merely banking on alibi as their defense versus positive identification.

In a string of decisions, the Supreme Court held that alibi is the weakest form of defense which could not stand against positive identification.

Despite the numerous jurisprudence backing up the complainants, Solima remains optimistic that the prosecutor’s office will dismiss the case.

Berger and Esdrelon denied having gone to Minglanilla on the day Pique was kidnapped. The immigration records show that Berger arrived in Cebu on February 7 in the afternoon.

He was met by Esdrelon at the airport and checked in at the Days Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City. They checked out at 11:00 a.m. on the following day and went to see Esdrelon’s aunt at a department store in Cebu City’s down town area.

Esdrelon enrolled at a Norwegian language school along Gorordo Avenue and took a late lunch in a nearby restaurant before checking in at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug shortly before 5:00 p.m. the same day Pique disappeared.

The suspects’ itinerary on the day Pique was kidnapped had been traced and validated by the NBI. — / FPL (FREEMAN)