Castro’s lawyers question NBI’s authority over suspect

Lawyers of slain bank teller Candice Castro questioned yesterday the authority of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to keep under its custody one of the suspects in the rape-slay of Castro last May 12 inside a condominium unit in Malate, Manila.

Lawyer Lorna Kapunan, of the Roco Kapunan Law Office, said there was undue delay in the case, with NBI apparently keeping the suspect, Bebs Reyes, from the Western Police District (WPD), the investigating law enforcement agency.

"We want to thank NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco for helping us in the case. But we are asking him to turn over the suspect to the proper authority," Kapunan noted.

Kapunan expressed apprehension that pieces of evidence, which could lead authorities to the identities of the killers, might get lost with the passage of time since the crime was committed.

Castro, 23, was found brutally murdered inside her condominium unit at the Vellagio Tower on Leon Guinto street, Malate, Manila last May 12. She suffered 24 stab wounds and a mop handle was forced inside her private part.

So far, the police arrested Philippe Marcelo, whose fingerprints and palm prints were lifted from the crime scene. Marcelo later tagged Reyes as the mastermind in the killing but he failed to substantiate his allegation with concrete evidence.

Kapunan insinuated that the NBI is protecting Reyes, who is a son of Buenvenido Reyes, an intelligence officer of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

But Reyes’ lawyer Orlando Dizon was quick to explain that his client does not enjoy protection from the NBI since he decided to surface last June 2.

He said his client voluntarily placed himself under the custody of the NBI as he fears for his life. Dizon also said Reyes has been receiving death threats. He stressed that it is part of the NBI’s mandate to provide security to a person whose life is under threat.

He reiterated that Reyes is willing to subject himself to all kinds of tests to prove his innocence.

But before submitting Reyes’ specimen, Dizon demanded that the WPD-Scene of the Crime Office must furnish them first with complete list of the pieces of evidence to prevent the police from tampering other evidence to further link his client to the crime.