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Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Man charged of killing pregnant wife absolved
By Harley F. Palangchao
A MAN accused of allegedly killing his wife who was eight months pregnant on Aug. 3, 2001 was acquitted Monday.
Acquitted by Judge Ruben Ayson of the city's Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 6 was Ricardo 'Ritchie' Ferma, who was arrested by the regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for allegedly stabbing to death his wife Judith inside their rented apartment along Ambiong Road here.
Ferma was a prime suspect in the killing of his wife based on the testimony of one of their neighbors, who told investigators that the victim twice mentioned Ferma’s name before she died at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC).
But in his 20-page decision, Ayson said the court doubted the credibility of the "dying declaration" of the victim, saying that no less than the physician who attended to the victim reported that she became unconscious and as such, "it is very remote and unlikely that she would regain consciousness, thus, she did not talk until she died."
The judge also noted that the neighbor, who claimed to have heard the dying declaration, told the court she was also never given the chance to get close to the victim inside the BGHMC emergency room as the doctors were trying to revive the victim.
"The difficulty in extracting that declaration is especially heightened by the fact that right from the beginning, Judith was already unconscious given the multiple blows she suffered with eyes wide open indicating an unconscious state," Ayson said.
He also ruled that the prosecutor failed to present in court a witness who could pinpoint Ferma as the killer. "The court cannot rest easy with the thought of convicting the accused for parricide and send him to his death on the basis of a very doubtful dying declaration as against a very strong case of alibi that accused was in Lepanto at the time."
Ayson gave credence to the testimonies of the witnesses of the defense panel, who all consistently testified that they saw the suspect in Lepanto, Mankayan, at the date of killing. Based on their testimonies, it appeared that the suspect was seen in Lepanto from July 31 and Aug. 1 to 3 that year.
Court records showed that the suspect and his wife both grew up in Lepanto Mines and started living together sometime in 1989. They had two children.
(November 4, 2003 issue)
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