Cebu lass dead before fall, NBI findings show

CEBU CITY — Vina Carmela Vismanos did not commit suicide but was already dead when she fell from the 26th floor of the 27-story Winland Tower Condominium a week ago today.

The National Bureau of Investigation called a press conference yesterday to say that all indications in its probe tended to suggest foul play was involved.

A team of NBI medico-legal experts headed by Dr. Rene Cam performed another autopsy on the body Wednesday night and came to the conclusion that Vismanos was dead before her fall.

NBI Regional Director Anthony Liongson, however, said the autopsy findings are not enough basis to conclude she was murdered and that can only be determined in the investigation.

"The autopsy findings cannot really say that there was a murder. It will be found out in the investigations," Liongson said.

Cam said a cut on the left forearm of Vismanos suggested an injury sustained while she was defending herself from an attack.

"If it was a fracture when she fell, it would not have been a clean cut. It looks like a defensive wound. If the fracture was inflicted by the fall, it would have had corrugated edges," Cam said.

Results on tests on specimens taken from the uterus of Vismanos and sent to the NBI central office will not be known until Tuesday.

Liongson said the results are very vital in the investigation because they would determine if Vismanos was pregnant or had an abortion.

The NBI has also determined that the death of Vismanos occurred between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. that Saturday.

The owner of the boarding house where Vismanos lived in La Guardia, Lahug told the NBI that the 26-year-old account executive at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel was still seen preparing breakfast at around 7 a.m. but minutes later she was seen hurriedly leaving without eating.

Before the discovery of her body at the bottom of a ventilation shaft on the 5th floor of the condominium, witnesses saw her walking up an alley toward the building on Juana Osmeña Extension, combing her hair as she walked.

Investigators learned she was a "frequent visitor" at the condominium. — Freeman News Service