2 brothers get death for Binondo massacre

Two brothers were meted the death penalty while their two friends were given 17-year prison terms for killing five people, including a Filipino-Chinese couple in Binondo, Manila seven years ago.

Manila Judge Reynaldo Alhambra of Regional Trial Court Branch 53 found Alfredo Estrella, 40, and his brother Noli, guilty of multiple murder.

Alhambra handed down prison terms to Estrella’s friends Danilo Quinabo and Romeo Truelda for being accomplices to the crime.

The judge ordered the four convicts to indemnify the heirs of the victims for moral, actual and exemplary damages.

Alhambra said evidence pointed to the convicts as the assailants of Edwin Keh, 29, his wife, 28, their housemaid Mary Ann Quinna and their security guards Patricio Corpuz and Bernardo Pastrana last Sept. 7, 1996.

Records showed that killings took place inside the Melatex Building on San Nicolas street in Binondo.

Witnesses told that court that prior to the killings, the brothers , who were then drunk, asked security guards to allow them to stay overnight at the lobby of the building.

The security guards allowed the two to stay because the convicts were former employees of the Kehs. However, the guards were later stabbed by the convicts, who later went upstairs, where the other victims were staying.

Records showed that Alfredo Estrella initially admitted harboring ill feelings against the couple who had mistreated them. However, he later retracted his statement.

Despite the retraction, Alhambra gave greater weight to the testimony of the prosecution witnesses.