Top 10 Murder Case in the

Philippines
 1. Chiong murder case

The Chiong murder case (People of the Philippines vs. Francisco Juan
Larrañaga et al.) was an incident on July 16, 1997 in Cebu, the Philippines, in
which sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong allegedly were kidnapped, raped,
and murdered.[1][2] Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga (b. 1977), a man of dual
Filipino and Spanish citizenship was, along with six others, convicted of
murder, and sentenced to death by lethal injection on February 3, 2004.
Capital punishment in the Philippines has since been abolished. But with
further studies and clarifications, this case is considered flawed.[by whom?]
There is arguably no solid evidence against Larrañaga.

Prosecution

According to the prosecutors, at 10:00 p.m. on July 16, 1997, Larrañaga and
six other defendants kidnapped the Chiong sisters near a mall on the island of
Cebu in the Philippines, raped them, and then threw one of the sisters into a
ravine. (This was later disputed as there was no formal identification of the
body, and later thought not to be the body of one of the sister's.) The other
sister was never found. The prosecutors' case against Larrañaga centered on
the testimony of a co-defendant, Davidson Valiente Rusia. In exchange for
blanket immunity, he testified. The trial court only permitted Larrañaga's
counsel to cross-examine Rusia for half an hour, despite the fact that Rusia's
direct testimony lasted for days. In that half-hour, Larrañaga's counsel
established that Rusia had lied to the prosecution and the court concerning his
prior convictions. While Rusia had claimed he had never been convicted of
crime, in fact he had a record of burglary and forgery. Rusia fainted when
confronted with this evidence. Davidson Rusia is a convicted felon who was a
gang member and was sentenced to prison twice in the United States for other
crimes.Rusia claimed that he was with Larrañaga in Ayala Center, Cebú early
in the evening of July 16, the evening Larrañaga says that he was at R&R
Restaurant in Quezon City with his friends. Rusia was not known to Larrañaga
and only appeared as a "state witness" 10 months after the event.

Verdict

The seven co-defendants were convicted of murder and sentenced to death by

lethal injection on February 3, 2004.

Larrañaga's counsels Felicitas Aquino Arroyo and Sandra Marie Olaso Coronel
urged the high court to admit the amicus curiae from the Basque Bar Council
(BBC), Barcelona Bar Associations (BBA) and Bar Association of Madrid.The
three organizations expressed their interests in the case of Larrañaga since he
was a "Spanish citizen with origins in the Basque Country, and therefore a
member of the European Union." The BBA mentioned that the execution of a
Spanish citizen would be in breach of the violation of the principle of
reciprocity in international law, noting that if a Filipino citizen is found guilty
in Spain, no Spanish court would have imposed the death penalty, nor would
have allowed him extradited to any country imposing capital punishment.
Former Ambassador Sedfrey Ordóñez claims he is the victim of a mistrial.

Fair Trials International (FTI), an NGO working on behalf of those who face a
miscarriage of justice in a country other than their own, entered an amicus
brief which was submitted to the Supreme Court of the Philippines by the
European Commission's Manila delegate. The amicus argued that under both
international and Philippine law, Larrañaga had been the subject of an unfair
trial and had never been given the opportunity to show his innocence. FTI has
since represented Larrañaga before the United Nations, appealing against
injustice in the Philippines. Sarah de Mas, spokesperson for FTI who brought
the case to the attention of the European Parliament and successive
presidencies of the European Union, stated that Larrañaga had served a
lengthy sentence for a crime he could not have committed.
 2. Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez murder

The Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez murder was a 1993 rape and murder
case that involved police personnel and Antonio Sanchez, the mayor of
Calauan, Laguna, Philippines, who were tried and convicted of the crime.
Sanchez was accused of masterminding the abduction of Sarmenta and her
boyfriend, Gomez, and the subsequent rape and murder of Sarmenta and the
torture and murder of Gomez. The victims were both students of the University
of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB).

Case

In 1993, Kit Alqueza, son of Gen. Dictador Alqueza, was charged with being the
mastermind of the slaying of Allan Gomez. Kit Alqueza was invited to a one-on-
one dialogue with then Vice President and Presidential Anti-Crime Commission
(PACC) Chief Joseph Estrada, Alqueza was led to a room full of media
personnel and accused before national television of the crime without the
benefit of a legal counsel and the chance to defend himself. Even as PACC
witnesses stated categorically that their allegations were false, Estrada and
CISC's Chief Supt. Angel Quizon held on to their story. Significantly, it was
suggested by observers and opinion writers that the contrivance was aimed to
divert the focus from Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez who had been identified
by witnesses as the principal suspect in the UPLB case.

Among the reasons for alleging the contrivance and diversion were: Panfilo
Lacson, who was the Chief of the Task Force Habagat of the PACC, was
reported to be Estrada's link to Mayor Sanchez in relation to jueteng payolas;
there were cars supplied by Estrada and Lacson to Sanchez; policemen
identified with Sanchez were members of the Presidential Anti Crime
Commission (PACC); and one lawyer for the Calauan respondents, named Atty.
Exconde, was related by affinity to PACC's Col. Antonio Gana and Atty. Mar
Arias (who is said to have come from Estrada himself).

According to talks in the Upsilonian Upsilon Sigma Phi circle, PACC's Ike
Gutierrez confided to a prominent Upsilonian that Sanchez had released ₱10
million to Estrada, ₱10 million to Lacson and ₱10 million to media editors in
order to draw the "heat" away from the mayor. According to reports, Lacson
attempted to foist fabricated evidence on the case, which were rejected by the
University of the Philippines (UP) group, which had closed ranks and vigilantly
insisted on the pursuit of justice. The parents of the murder victims, also
especially rallied their support for the Alqueza family.

But despite the recantation of PACC's two witnesses Corcolon and Lavadia
(who claimed they were tortured to extract false testimony against Alqueza); a
vehement denial by a third witness, Rose Molina, of PACC's love triangle
theory; and a statement by one Centino, the driver of Sanchez, who pointed at
Sanchez as the first to rape Sarmenta, Estrada and Lacson insisted that 19-
year-old Alqueza masterminded the murder by paying Lavadia the puny sum of
₱21,000 to carry out the murder.

Convictions

On March 14, 1995, the judge handling the case concluded the 16-month trial
with the finding that Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez and several henchmen,
only some of whom were policemen, guilty of raping and murdering Sarmenta
and killing Gomez, Sarmenta's boyfriend. Sanchez is currently serving seven
terms of reclusion perpetua (40 years per term) for the crime. On January 25,
1999, the Philippine Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Regional Trial
Court. On August 29, 1999, Sanchez was given a double life term by the
Supreme Court for a different case. Together with his seven life terms for the
Sarmenta-Gomez murders, Sanchez will have to spend a total of 360 years in
jail.
 3. Hultman–Chapman murder case

The Hultman–Chapman murder case (formally People of the Philippines vs.

Claudio Teehankee Jr.) was a murder case that gained wide publicity in the
Philippines during the early 1990s because Claudio Teehankee Jr., the
perpetrator of the crime, was the son of the late former Chief Justice Claudio
Teehankee and the brother of former Justice Undersecretary Manuel
Teehankee. The case helped sway the public view and lawmakers on crime and
restore the death penalty in the Philippines.

Crime and arrest

Court records show that Roland John Chapman, Maureen Hultman, and
another friend, Jussi Olavi Leino, were coming home from a party at around
three o'clock in the morning of 13 July 1991. Leino was walking Hultman home
along Mahogany street in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City when Teehankee
came up behind them in his car. He stopped the two and demanded that they
show some identification. Leino took out his wallet and showed Teehankee his
Asian Development Bank ID. Teehankee grabbed the wallet. Chapman, who
was waiting in a car for Leino, stepped in and asked Teehankee: "Why are you
bothering us?" Teehankee drew out his gun and shot Chapman in the chest,
killing him instantly. After a few minutes, Teehankee shot Leino, hitting him in
the jaw. Then he shot Hultman on the temple before driving away. Leino
survived and Hultman died two months later in hospital due to brain
hemorrhages caused by the bullet fragments. Teehankee was arrested several
days later on the testimony of several witnesses. The witnesses were Domingo
Florence and Agripino Cadenas, private security guards, and Vincent
Mangubat, a driver, all three being employs of residents of the village.

Trial and sentence

The Supreme Court of the Philippines, on 6 March 1992, dismissed Teehankee

Jr.'s certiorari petition to annul the trial court's admission of the amended
information, the arraignment and appointment of PAO lawyer as counsel de
oficio of Teehankee Jr., inter alia. On 22 December 1992, Judge Job B.
Madayag, Makati City Regional Trial Court, Branch 145, convicted Teehankee
Jr. The Supreme Court of the Philippines on 6 October 1995, modified the trial
court's decision and found Teehankee Jr. guilty of the crimes of murder,
homicide and attempted murder, for which, he was meted out 3 sentences,
respectively, reclusión perpetua (defined effectively as 30 years by the Revised
Penal Code) and 2 indeterminate sentences of reclusion temporal, each for 8
years and 1 day to 14 years (now, as finally amended by the Supreme Court in
1995). Under Article 70 of the Revised Penal Code, the maximum combined
sentences cannot exceed 40 years.

Damages assessed

Teehankee Jr. was ordered to pay civil indemnity: in Criminal Case No. 91-
4605, 50,000.00 Philippine Pesos as indemnity for the Chapman's death;
1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; in Criminal Case No. 91-4606,
50,000.00 Pesos as indemnity for Maureen Navarro Hultman's death;
2,350,461.83 Pesos as actual damages; 564,042.57 Pesos for loss of earning
capacity; 1,000,000.00 Pesos as moral damages; and 2,000,000.00 Pesos as
exemplary damages; in Criminal Case No. 91-4807, 30,000.00 Pesos as
indemnity for Jussi Olavi Leino's injuries; 118,369.84 Pesos and equivalent in
Philippine Pesos of U.S.$55,600.00, both as actual damages; 1,000,000.00
Pesos as moral damages; and 2,000,000.00 Pesos as exemplary damages; In all
3 cases, to pay each of 3 offended parties the sum of 1,000,000.00 Pesos for
attorney's fees and expenses of litigation.
 4. Vizconde murders

he Vizconde murder case, colloquially known as the Vizconde massacre, was

the multiple homicide of members of the Vizconde family on 30 June 1991 at
their residence in BF Homes, Parañaque City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Estrellita, 49, had suffered thirteen stab wounds; Carmela, 19, had suffered
seventeen stab wounds and had been raped before she was killed; and
Jennifer, 6, had nineteen stab wounds.Lauro Vizconde, Estrellita's husband,
and the father of Carmela and Jennifer, was in the United States on business
when the murders took place.

The lead suspect was Hubert Webb, whose father Freddie Webb was famous as
an actor, former basketball player, and former Congressman and Senator. The
other defendants were Antonio Lejano II, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael
Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada, Joey Filart and Artemio
Ventura.[2] In the Trial Court (People of the Philippines vs. Hubert Webb, et al.,
G.R. No. 176864), it became one of the most sensational cases in the
Philippines, being described as a "trial of the century". The men were convicted
by the Parañaque Regional Trial Court which the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Except for Filart and Ventura who had been convicted in absentia, the men
were later acquitted by the Supreme Court on 14 December 2010 for failure of
the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
 Case

The case remained unsolved for almost four years, until eyewitness Jessica
Alfaro, a self-confessed former drug addict, came forward on April 28, 1995 to
shed light on the killing of the Vizcondes. Alfaro implicated the children of
wealthy and prominent families including Hubert Webb, Antonio Lejano II,
Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada, Joey
Filart and Artemio Ventura.

Trial
Prosecution
The trial began in August 1995 before Parañaque City RTC Judge Amelita
Tolentino. Alfaro had testified that she knew the suspects and was at the
Vizconde house when the crime was committed. By Alfaro's account, after a
drug session with the group, Hubert Webb allegedly had hatched his plan to
rape Carmela Vizconde. Webb wanted Alfaro, the then girlfriend of one of the
accused men, Peter Estrada, to join them because Estrellita Vizconde only
allowed her daughter to go out and entertain female visitors.
Alfaro testified that as Webb followed Carmela into the dining room, she
decided to step outside for a smoke. From there she allegedly saw Lejano and
Ventura take a knife from the kitchen drawer, while the rest of the gang acted
as lookouts. Alfaro said Estrellita was killed before Webb began to rape
Carmela. Jennifer woke up and, seeing Webb violating her sister, jumped on
him and bit him. He then hurled the little girl to a wall and started stabbing
her.

Alfaro said that when she went back to the house, she saw the bodies of
Estrellita and Jennifer on the bed and Webb raping Carmela on the floor.
Lejano and Ventura also took turns raping Carmela, before finishing her off
with numerous stabs.[1] Alfaro said that policeman Gerardo Biong "was
instructed by Webb, in my presence, to take care of the house where the
incident happened". Alfaro also said that she bumped into Biong at the Faces
Disco in Makati in March 1995 and relayed to her the offer of the group to give
her a free ticket to the United States to shut her up. She added that suspect
Miguel Rodriguez warned her to "shut up or you're gonna get killed" in the
same disco on April 8, 1995 prompting her to voluntarily submit herself to the
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for protection.[8] According to the
footage of the trial, Alfaro had been able to identify all the defendants by their
names. The defense questioned Alfaro's credibility noting that she admitted to
being under the influence of drugs when she allegedly witnessed the crime and
had made inconsistent statements on her two affidavits. Alfaro said she was
then having reservations when she first executed the first affidavit and held
back vital information due to her natural reaction of mistrust.

Alfaro's testimony was corroborated by other witnesses including: Lolita Birrer,

a former live-in partner of policeman Gerardo Biong, who narrated the manner
of how Biong investigated and tried to cover up the crime. Birrer said she had
accompanied Biong to the Vizconde house to destroy the evidence and to
retrieve Webb’s jacket and the murder weapon. She also testified that Biong
received money at a house that she later learned belonged to then Parañaque
Congressman Freddie Webb; the Webb family's maids, Mila Gaviola and
Nerissa Rosales, who both testified that Hubert Webb was at home on June 30,
1991. At about 4 a.m. on June 30, 1991, Gaviola woke up and entered the
bedrooms to get the Webb's dirty laundry and wash it as part of her job. She
said that when she entered Hubert’s room, she saw him wearing only his
pants, awake and smoking in bed. While washing Hubert Webb's clothing,
Gaviola said she noticed fresh bloodstains on his shirt. After she finished the
laundry, she went to the servant's quarters. But feeling uneasy, she decided to
go up to the stockroom near Hubert's room to see what he was doing. In the
said stockroom, there is a small door going to Hubert's room and in that door
there is a small opening where she used to see Hubert and his friends sniffing
on something. She observed Hubert was quite irritated, uneasy, and walked to
and fro inside his room.Security guards Justo Cabanacan and Normal White.
Cabanacan said Webb had entered the subdivision (where the Vizconde house
was located) a few days before the massacre and that he even identified himself
as the son of then Congressman Webb. White, on the other hand, said he saw
the three cars enter the subdivision on the night of June 29, as Alfaro had
testified; White also testified that policeman Gerardo Biong was the first to
arrive at the crime scene.
 5. Kawit shooting

The Kawit shooting was a mass murder that

occurred in barangay Tabon 1 in Kawit,
Philippines on January 4, 2013. 41-year-old
Ronald Baquiran Bae killed at least seven
people and a dog and wounded twelve other
people with a semiautomatic pistol, before he
was shot and killed by police. Another man,
27-year-old John Paul Lopez, who was said to
have been employed by Bae as his house caretaker, was later arrested for
assisting the gunman during the shooting by reloading his pistol magazine. The
motive of the suspect is unclear, officials said.

The shooting began just after 9:00 a.m., when Bae, together with Lopez,
entered a store and asked the three Caimol children, among them his godchild
Ken Cedric Caimol, for a man named Berto. When they replied that Berto was
not there, Bae drew a .45-caliber Colt 1911 and shot at the children, killing 7-
year-old Michaella, and seriously wounding her brother and sister.

Bae and Lopez then left the store and, while running through the street,
Bae fired at anyone in his path, while Lopez would reload his pistol when he
ran out of ammunition. Thus he first killed Alberto Fernandez and his dog, who
were standing at the porch, then a pregnant woman named Rhea de Vera with
a shot in the stomach, as well as her 3-year-old daughter John Monica. Also
killed was taho vendor Al Dorio, while his brother Antonio was wounded with a
shot in the back.

Afterwards Bae returned to his home, where soon police arrived and asked him
to surrender, though the gunman started shooting at police, until he was
eventually killed when officers returned fire. Overall the shooting had lasted for
about 30 minutes. Lopez on the other hand disappeared after the shooting, and
a reward of 100,000P was offered for information that would lead to his arrest,
though he eventually surrendered himself to police and was taken into
custody.
 6. The RCA Axe Slaughter (1963)

On the early dawn of August 26,

1963, Manila woke up to the horrible
news wrought by a “bestial, axe-wielding
gang” that left dead five security guards of
the RCA Bldg, on Canonigo St., Paco,
Manila.

Butchered with a 15-pound

fireman’s axe were Ricardo de la Cruz ,
Roberto Gonzalez , Francisco Timbol,
Francisco Zablan and Alfredo Adaza, who died en route to the hospital. Two
others narrowly cheated death—Turiano de Guzman hid in a guard’s room
when he heard the dying moans of his companions, and carpenter Pablo Lopez
walked into the gang’s lookout and was forced to join the hogtied guards. When
the axe wielder started his grisly work, Lopez buried his head under the bodies
of the dead and feigned death.

The gang blew off 2 RCA safes and took off with over Php335,000 —a
huge amount at that time. From the statements of the survivors, the
investigators pieced the story of the heinous massacre, which turned out to be
an inside job involving RCA employees: Leonardo Bernardo (driver), Mariano
San Diego (guard), Mariano Domingo (guard supervisor) and Apolonio Adriano
(guard, tagged as the axe-man).

The group had come in a jeep and overpowered the guards by grabbing
their high-powered Thompsons. The accused were tried, convicted and
sentenced to death on March 19, 1966 by CFI Judge Placido Ramos. They were
also ordered to pay Php218,000 indemnity to RCA, representing the
unrecovered money that they stole.
 7. Lucila Lalu a.k.a. The “Chop Chop” Lady

Using her business mindset, probinsyana Lucila Lalu slowly emerged

from being a simple waitress to a bona fide entrepreneurial success. By 1967,
she already owned two establishments: Pagoda Soda Fountain, a restaurant-
cum-cocktail lounge in Rizal Avenue, and Lucy’s House of Beauty, a beauty
parlor on Mayhaligue St., Sta. Cruz.Life seemed so sweet for Lucila until things
took an ugly turn. On May 28, 1967, the whole nation was shocked as the first
case of a “chop chop” lady emerged in newspaper headlines.

Several body parts which later identified to be those of the 29-year old
Lucila were found scattered in different parts of Manila. Her legs, chopped into
four pieces, were found wrapped in a newspaper and stuffed in a garbage can
not far from Lucila’s cocktail lounge. Later on, her headless body was
discovered on a vacant lot along EDSA.Sadly, the severed head of Lucila, who
was also one-month pregnant at the time of the murder, has never been
discovered.

‘Clueless’ factor: Four men, all of whom were romantically linked to

Lucila, were considered suspects for the murder. First on the list was 19-year
old Florante Relos who worked as a waiter for Lucila’s cocktail lounge.The
second was patrolman Aniano Vera who was Lucila’s common-law husband at
that time. However, both Relos and Vera were cleared from charges due to lack
of strong pieces of evidence to prove them guilty.Another two suspects emerged
in the following months including an unidentified printing firm executive and a
28-year old dental student Jose Luis Santiano who many believed was just a
fall guy.

After four decades of searching, Lucila Lalu’s murder case remains

unclosed.
 8. Rubylita Garcia

Rubylita Garcia (ca. 1962 – 6 April 2014) was a Filipino

host for a local radio talk show on channel dwAD and a
journalist for the daily tabloid Remate in Bacoor City,
Philippines. She reported on corruption in the
Philippines. She was murdered in 2014.

Death

She was gunned down by two men in front of her ten-

year-old granddaughter, son, and sister-in-law in her
home in Bacoor City. Before she died, she said that the
local police chief was the only one who wanted her dead, no conviction has
been made however, only a temporary relief of duty. She died on the way to the
hospital and her family members were not physically harmed.

The Philippine National Police formed a special investigation task force, but no
one was captured.One of the suspects was witnessed to be about 6 foot tall, in
his thirties, with a tattoo of a cross on his neck and a tattoo on his arm. A man
was arrested during a busy bust operation in Cavite City, but further
examination of the suspect from a witness declared that this was not one of the
men who murdered Garcia. No further reports have been made to the capture
of these gunmen.

Reactions

Bacoor’s Mayor, Strike B. Revilla, started a P 50,000 reward for anyone who
would solve the case of Garcia’s murder. Later, the P 50,000 reward was raised
to P 100,000 and was then raised again to P 150,000 by Alab ng
Mamamahayag (ALAM). This group rallied at the Cavite police headquarters,
protesting their concerns of how long it was taking to investigate Garcia’s case.
Funeral marchers carrying Garcia’s casket during “A Walk For Justice” adopted
the slogan “Justice For Ruby Garcia” and had it printed on their T-shirts which
they wore while marching.
 9. Christopher Guarin

Christopher Guarin (ca. 1970 – 5 January 2012)

was a Filipino journalist—an AM radio block timer
show host and a local tabloid publisher and
editor-in-chief—murdered in General Santos City,
Mindanao, Philippines. Guarin was the 150th
Filipino journalist to have been killed since the
democratic revolution of 1986.

Death

Christopher Guarin was attacked and killed on 5

January 2012. Earlier in the day, Guarin received a death threat and during
his radio program, he read the threat aloud. The message read, "Do not leave
the station, I will kill you."[6] Guarin had received death threats before.That
evening while he was driving near Lagao with his wife and nine-year-old
daughter to their home, a team of two hit men riding on a single Honda XRM
motorcycle shot at Guarin's vehicle.[ Guarin was able to drive further after
those first shots. According to his wife, he then stopped and escaped from the
KIA Pride to direct the gunshots away from his family, and finally he begged for
his life before being killed by the attackers. The hit men fired between five and
seven shots with one of those bullets to the head. Guarin was killed at about
10:30 p.m. on the same day he had been threatened on Conel Road.] The hit
men inflicted a minor injury on Guarin's wife during the attack. The police said
the child was safe, unharmed but "traumatized." According to the Committee to
Protect Journalists, Guarin was killed because of his journalism and he was
the first journalist killed in 2012.

Investigation

Guarin himself had been a subject in the investigation of a rival newspaper's

circulation manager in late 2011 but was cleared of any wrongdoing by
police.The investigation of Christopher Guarin's murder began with the
formation of Task Force Gaurin. Police told journalists that Guarin's murder
was motivated by business rather than his reporting, although police gave no
more information. Journalists raised and offered a monetary reward for more
information about the attackers.From Lyn Guarin's identification of an alleged
shooter of her husband from files, police filed murder charges against suspect
Marvin Palabrica on 1 February 2012 and then initiated a manhunt to locate
him. Police continued to investigate further for information about an
accomplice and a mastermind.[ After one year the case was still unsolved.[14]
 10. The Janet Clemente Conspiracy (1969).

A multiple murder case allegedly under the direction of a woman was

the top crime news in 1969. Club hostess Janet Hernandez Clemente
conspired with Alfredo Edwards and Mario Canial in the cold-blooded
murder of Benjamin Galang, Irineo Narvasca and Zosimo Felarca in
Sampaloc.

All three victims were friends of Florencio San Miguel, a common-law

husband of Clarita Hernandez, Janet’s sister. For having junked Clarita,
San Miguel claimed that Clemente had threatened to kill him, his
relatives and friends. The situation was exacerbated when San Miguel
had a violent altercation with a Clemente

Things came to a head when Clemente made good her threats. In the evening of
April 29, she and her cohorts, stopped their white Toyota on Elias St. and
started mowing San Miguel’s friends one by one with their .45 caliber pistol
and carbine, with Clemente providing identifications.

The three suspects were caught, tried and sentenced by Judge Manuel
Pamaran of the Manila Criminal Circuit Court, imposing the capital
punishment of death . In August 1972, their case was reviewed and the
Supreme Court reversed the decision, ruling out that the killing was not pre-
meditated but a chance encounter, hence, no conspiracy.

Both Mario Canial and Alfredo Edwards were found guilty of homicide, but only
Canial served time in prison, Edwards having died while waiting for the appeal.
Janet Clemente was acquitted and walked away free.