DOJ: Defective Nida case can be thrown out

A Department of Justice investigator said yesterday the Nida Blanca murder case can be either thrown out or sent back to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) if found to be "defective."

Senior state prosecutor Archimedes Manabat, who leads a three-member panel that will examine the complaint, explained that they have to first determine if there is a basis to charge the accused in court.

"Even before we issue a subpoena, we can dismiss a case outright or send it back to the NBI for further investigation if we don’t find any evidence that could warrant a preliminary investigation," he said.

On Wednesday the NBI filed a complaint accusing Blanca’s husband, Rod Strunk, and four others of murdering the multi-awarded actress on Nov. 7 last year.

Charges of obstruction of justice against three security guards were also recommended for their refusal to cooperate with authorities.

Under DOJ procedures, investigating prosecutors can assess a complaint within ten days. If a preliminary investigation is necessary the complaint’s respondents would be subpoenaed within ten days, after which hearings would be conducted.

Manabat declined to comment on merits of the case, saying it was too early to tell. "I have yet to see the records together with the pieces of evidence. I cannot make any comment yet," he said.

Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee said the other day that the decision of the NBI to use the recanted confession of hired killer Philip Medel Jr. may weaken the case against Strunk and his co-accused. "It weakens the credibility of the witness," he said.

After confessing to the murder and implicating Strunk, Medel later recanted his statement claiming police tortured him into owning the crime.

Manabat said, however, that there had been earlier Supreme Court rulings stating that a recanted confession may be used but only if there are other evidence corroborating its details.

Before charges can be filed in court, Manabat said the case against the accused must be fully established – backed by strong evidence – so it can withstand the rigors of a trial.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco earlier said they used Medel’s confession because he did not formally recant it.

They also have the testimonies of 25 witnesses who could prove that Strunk masterminded the murder, Wycoco added, as well as the receipt for the Swiss Army knife which Strunk bought two days before the murder and was used as the murder weapon.

They also have Strunk’s umbrella which, investigators said, he used to poke Blanca’s body to determine if she was dead. The umbrella, which witnesses said was always in Strunk’s van, was found in Blanca’s car, where her body was discovered.

NBI investigators said Strunk killed the 66-year-old Blanca – Dorothy Jones in real life – so he could claim an inheritance from her estimated P85 million in properties, mostly in real estate.

Blanca had planned to annul her stormy 22-year marriage to her freeloading husband and bequeath her properties to her only daughter.

Strunk, an American, left for the United States in January after his name was removed from a Bureau of Immigration watchlist because there were no charges against him at the time.

He claimed that he was visiting his ailing mother and that he would return for any further investigation but no word has been heard from him since.

The NBI yesterday said it is requesting its US counterpart, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to "help us track down Strunk’s exact location in California with the possibility of his extradition."

"He is staying in just one location in California," said NBI spokesman Ric Diaz. Diaz, who heads the bureau’s international police division, yesterday met with the FBI legal attaché James Nixon to discuss Strunk’s possible extradition.

Although Manila has an extradition treaty with Washington, NBI sources said it may take three to eight months for Strunk to be extradited – even longer if he fights the extradition proceedings.

Diaz, however, said the extradition might not be that difficult as the US government gives priority to murder cases.

At present, Strunk is not considered a fugitive from the law since charges have yet to be filed against him in court and an arrest warrant issued.

Blanca was found murdered in her car, parked in the garage of an office building in San Juan’s Greenhills district where she reviewed films for the government censors board. Her brutal murder triggered a national outrage. – With a report from Mike Frialde