Complaint vs teener wrongly accused in Silawan murder dismissed
Credit to Author: acerojano| Date: Fri, 10 May 2019 11:04:13 +0000
CEBU CITY—The Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) against the teenager who they considered as the suspect in the brutal killing of 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan.
Instead, the prosecutor recommended the filing of murder charges against Renato Llenes, the self-confessed perpetrator who the police arrested for ending the life of Silawan and peeling off her skin using a pair of scissors.
In a joint resolution obtained by Inquirer, Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor Ruso Zaragosa said there was no sufficient evidence to prove that Silawan’s ex-boyfriend, who was 17-year-old when the crime happened, had a hand in the killing.
Zaragosa said he was more inclined to believe that Llenes killed Silawan based on the suspect’s admission as well as other corroborating evidence.
Llenes, 43, admitted to the crime, saying he duped Silawan into believing that he was a younger-looking guy she met on social media site Facebook.
He became obsessed with Silawan and later on killed the teenager when they met on March 10.
Zaragosa took into consideration the social media account used by Llenes who exchanged messages with Silawan before the girl was killed.
This was bolstered by the footage of a closed-circuit television that showed Llenes and the victim minutes before the crime.
Zaragosa said the police also presented witnesses who claimed to have seen both Llenes and Silawan together on the day the girl was murdered.
Brigadier Gen. Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said he was elated with the outcome of the case.
“We now considered this case as solved (but) we will be monitoring it since we are the complainant,” said Sinas in a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Col. Limuel Obon, chief of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said they would present additional evidence in court such as results of the DNA tests soon.
Silawan’s half-naked body was found on a vacant lot in Barangay Bangkal on March 11.
Half of her face was gone while her organs in the neck area were removed. She also suffered 30 stab wounds.
Five days later, the NBI arrested Silawan’s ex-boyfriend who reportedly had a hand in the crime. The suspect denied the allegation.
The NBI, however, filed murder charges against the teenage suspect, who is under the custody of a home-care facility of Lapu-Lapu City’s social welfare and development office.
Last April 9, the police arrested Llenes who admitted to killing Silawan. (Editor: Abe Cerojano)