CEBU CITY – The bloodstains found on the seized clothing owned by the teenage suspect in the killing of Christine Lee Silawan belongs to the 16-year-old victim, the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI 7) confirmed yesterday.
Lawyer Tomas Enrile, director of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI 7), said that the result of the DNA test bolstered the suspicion that the boy was involved in the killing of his ex-girlfriend. “This is a strong evidence. This will speak for itself that the suspect has participation,” said Enrile.
Enrile said he will let the medico-legal officers discuss the full result of the DNA testing and autopsy.
Both Dr. Rene Cam of NBI 7 and Supt. Benjamin Lara of the PNP Crime Lab were unavailable yesterday to further discuss the results of the examinations.
The NBI 7 has said that “clothing of interest” was seized when the boy was arrested in his home in Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City last March 16.
The teenage suspect, who celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday, is in the custody of a home-care facility of Lapu-Lapu City’s social welfare and development office.
A murder case has been filed against the suspect before the city prosecutor’s office.
Enrile shrugged off the contradicting autopsy findings of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and PNP Crime Lab. “We will focus on the results of the PNP Crime Lab,” said Enrile.
Lara has previously disclosed that there were no indications that Silawan was raped.
On the contrary, Dr. Erwin Erfe, director of the forensic laboratory of PAO, said the girl was raped before she was killed because of abrasions and signs of bleeding in her genitals.
Enrile also dismissed the allegations of the teenage suspect that the NBI 7 agents forced him to admit the crime by torturing and threatening him.
In his counter-affidavit, the boy said he was punched in the abdomen and forced him to sign a document. “That’s a normal reaction of suspects. If he was tortured, where are his injuries?” Enrile asked.
Enrile said the NBI 7 and the police are conducting follow-up investigations to arrest other perpetrators.
Erfe said that based on the injuries of Silawan, there could be at least three perpetrators. “It will be impossible for one person to do such crime because you have to restrain the victim. We have evidence that her feet and hands were restrained because of ligature marks. It was also possible that she was strangled with a leash because of the ligature marks in her neck,” said Erfe.
Erfe, who re-autopsied the girl’s body last March 22 upon the request of the victim’s parents, added that the girl was also choked. “The perpetrator choked the victim using his right hand based on the fingerprint marks in her neck,” said Erfe.
Erfe added that before the girl was killed, a chemical was poured on her face before her skin was peeled off. The perpetrators once again poured a chemical on the victim’s face after removing the skin.
“One of her eyeballs got burned because of the chemicals. There were also burns in her neck. The acid caused discoloration in some parts of the face,” said Erfe.
Silawan also bore multiple stab wounds. “There were indications that she was stabbed even if she was already dead because some wounds didn’t have tissue reactions,” said Erfe.
Silawan was found dead in vacant lot in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City last March 10. The girl’s tongue, trachea and esophagus were missing.
Erfe said that the missing internal organs may have been eaten by stray animals or rodent since the half-naked body was found in an open area. (Calvin Cordova)