‘Evidence vs magazine editor accused of murder circumstantial’

The lawyer of the magazine editor now being accused of killing his own wife two months ago yesterday said the evidence against his client was circumstantial.

In an interview with The STAR, lawyer Teddy Rigoroso said his client, Ibarra Gutierrez, 57, editor-in-chief of Media G8way Corp. (MGC), is being charged with parricide for simply being at the crime scene.

"There is nothing criminal in being in a crime scene especially if you had a valid reason to be there," Rigoroso said, adding that the results of the police investigation were flawed.

Rigoroso argued that Gutierrez worked in the same building and the same company with his wife, Delia.

The Makati City police, through Police Officer 2 Dominador Robles, filed parricide charges against Gutierrez on Wednesday.

Delia Gutierrez, chief executive officer of MGC, was found dead in her office comfort room on Sept. 6.

She died of a lacerated throat and multiple stab wounds in different parts of the body. 

The husband discovered his wife’s "suicide" but he is now being tagged as the killer after witnesses said he was the last to see the victim alive and the only person who entered and the victim’s office before the murder. 

Aside from testimonies of several employees, the police based their charges on forensic evidence that the victim could not have committed suicide, considering the number and severity of the wounds, and the manner and depth by which the wounds were inflicted.

Robles, in his report, also took note of how the husband told him and other police officers that his wife committed suicide when they questioned him at the Ospital ng Makati. The husband also refused to take a polygraph or lie-detector test.

Rigoroso, however, maintained that the evidence against his client were circumstantial. "Mere presence at a crime scene is not technically an unequivocal indication that you perpetrated the crime."

His client did not take a polygraph test based on his recommendation because the results are not conclusive and not admissible as evidence in court, the lawyer added.

As for engaging the services of a private doctor in the person of forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun to examine the body, Rigoroso said the victim’s family had the right to search for the truth in a separate investigation.

Rigoroso said Ibarra Gutierrez and his children are outraged by the charges and the family is asking the National Bureau of Investigation to step in.

Reacting to Rigoroso’s statements, Makati City police chief, Superintendent Gilbert Cruz said the charge sheet can speak for itself.

He said they expect members of the family who believe that Delia Gutierrez was murdered to now come out as complainants knowing that the police have done its job.

Robles stuck to his findings. "We are just doing our job as police officers. It’s not about the personalities."

The complaint is yet to be assigned to a prosecutor who would then study it. If there is enough reason to proceed, the prosecutor will then subpoena the suspect and require him to submit a counter-affidavit giving his side.