Court summons condo slay suspect

The Manila Prosecutor’s Office summoned yesterday one of the primary suspects in the rape-slay of bank teller Candice Castro.

Manila City Assistant Prosecutor Elseray Faith Noro ordered Bebs Reyes to appear before her office on June 15 and 22 for preliminary investigation, in which he is expected to file a counter affidavit.

Noro addressed the subpoena to Unit 1104 of the Vellagio Tower on Leon Guinto street, Malate, Manila, where he is a tenant and to the office of his lawyer Rico Bolongaite. Castro was killed inside her unit of the same condo.

Reyes, a son of an intelligence officer at the Bureau of Immigration (BI), is wanted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Western Police District (WPD) after he was tagged as the mastermind in the Castro killing by another susepct, Philippe Marcelo.

Like Reyes, Marcelo is also a tenant at the Vellagio Tower.

Noro also gave Castro’s lawyer Clarence Clifford de Guzman until Friday to submit all the pieces of evidence police gathered from the crime scene inside Unit 1103 on the 11th floor of the tower.

Castro was found dead with 24 stab wounds in the body last May 12.

WPD-Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), along with Castro’s parents Grace and Rogelio and their lawyers, went back to the crime scene last Sunday to assess and gather more evidence to pin down the suspects.

The result of the occular investigation will be out possibly on Friday, De Guzman told Noro in asking for an extension for the deadline to submit more evidence.

Since pieces of evidence lifted from the crime scene are material to the resolution of the case, the request of the Castro family’s lawyer for an extension was granted.

Present during the preliminary investigation were Marcelo and his lawyer Augusto Jimenez. Castro’s parents and relatives also attended the investigation at the third floor of the Manila City Hall.

The lady prosecutor said that after the Castros’ lawyer submits all the pieces of evidence, Marcelo must file his counter affidavit on June 11.

Reyes earlier said he would surface at the proper time and he does not intend to surrender for fear authorities try to pin him to the crime.

He had submitted his records, fingerprints, footprints and submitted himself to a drug test at the NBI office to prove his innocence.

After Castro’s parents sought help, the NBI and the WPD launched a massive manhunt against Reyes. NBI agents and police checked Reyes at his hometown in Laguna, but returned empty handed.