Friday, June 06, 2008 2 more witnesses show up at NBI
THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) interviewed two more potential witnesses in the murder of lawyer Richard Sison.
The late lawyer’s widow, Dina, accompanied the two to the NBI yesterday afternoon, where they gave the description of a man who was seen near the late lawyer’s house weeks before the killing.
One of the witnesses claimed to be able to identify the man if seen again.
The NBI has withheld the names of the two as well as the other details of the information they offered.
Lawyer Renan Oliva, NBI Supervising Agent, confirmed that the two pored over photos of persons who might be connected to the case. But he would not say if it resulted to anything positive.
“We are also interviewing other witnesses in relation to the shooting,” he said.
The May 21, 2008 murder of the prominent lawyer is a priority case for the Department of Justice (DOJ)-attached law enforcement agency.
While the Cebu City Police Office has created a special task force, the NBI is providing not only technical support. It is also generating its own intelligence.
The victim’s family, represented by his three children-Charisse Gwenevere, Cathleen May and Richard Dino, formally asked for the NBI’s assistance.
“We are the children of the late Atty. Richard Sison. We are still shocked of the incident and we cry for justice. We pray that justice be served and that those responsible
for the death of our father will be prosecuted and put behind bars,” they said in a prepared statement dated on the day of the killing.
Task Force Sison has released a cartographic sketch of three men, one of whom was the shooter.
Bullet wounds
Oliva wouldn’t comment if any of the men on the sketch were familiar to the two people Sison’s widow brought to the NBI yesterday.
Sison was hit four times on the head, with the slug fracturing his skull and tearing through his brain tissue.
Two bullets exited at the right side of his cranium. The other two almost went through as well. One was lodged in the soft tissue and was recovered by doctors at the Chong Hua Hospital.
A fourth bullet hit Sison in the left side of his neck and tore through his neck muscles and the blood vessels.
“The assailant, based on the injuries noted on the body of the victim, was to the left of the victim; meaning the relative position of the suspect is on the left side of the
victim,” read the autopsy report prepared by NBI forensic pathologist Rene Cam.
The lawyer held the rank of major of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Army Reserve Command and was the commanding officer of the First Cebu Ready Reserve Battalion. (KNR)
