Vendetta eyed in lawyer’s slay

Police are now eyeing vendetta as the possible motive in the slaying of a 56-year-old lawyer who was gunned down inside his house in Sampaloc, Manila last Tuesday evening.

Lawyer Victor Padilla, husband of Quezon City Judge Ma. Luisa Padilla, died from a lone gunshot wound in the head at the UERM Hospital yesterday morning.

Police said the lawyer was entertaining a visitor at the living room of his house at 455 San Jose street when two men barged in through the kitchen at around 6:30 p.m.

One of the suspects kept watch on three housemaids in the kitchen while the other suspect went straight to the living room and shot Padilla. The gunman spared the judge and Vicente Bermejo Jr., the victim’s secretary and legal researcher, who was then conversing with the lawyer.

The two suspects escaped through the main door.

Investigators recovered a deformed slug and an empty shell from a 9 mm pistol at the scene of the crime.

Investigators said the suspects, in their early 20s, appeared to be hired killers.

Manila Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit chief Superintendent Rolando Miranda said he has dispatched a group of veteran investigators to process the crime scene and gather evidence.

Relatives of the victim opted to remain silent for the meantime, but assured investigators of their cooperation after his burial.

Investigators learned that the victim had tangled with some politicians in the north. In 2004, a grenade was thrown at the victim’s car parked near his house. No one was hurt in the incident.