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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tribesmen help look for suspect in Campbell’s slay
MANILA -- Tribesmen are helping hunt down the suspect in the killing of US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell whose body was found buried in a shallow grave last week in Banaue, Ifugao, a police official said.
"They (tribal leaders) have formed their own team and are helping the police in tracking down the suspect," said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak about the case.
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Police have identified a local woodcarver, 25-year-old Juan Dontugan, as a suspect in the killing of Campbell, and are following up leads on a possible accomplice.
Senior Superintendent Pedro Ganir, police chief of Ifugao province, said Dontugan is from the village of Batad in Banaue.
"We have leads that he was not alone," Ganir told The Associated Press in a telephone interview, but refused to elaborate.
Dontugan has been at large since April 9, a day after Campbell was reported missing during a solo hike to see the area's famed mountainside rice terraces, Ganir said.
Dontugan is the husband of the woman who sold Campbell a Coca-Cola before she proceeded with her hike.
Angry tribal leaders are helping police look for him because Campbell's murder has greatly affected the image of Banaue as a tourist destination. Ifugao officials have noted a slight decline in tourist visits in Banaue, particularly at the rice terraces, after Campbell was found dead in the area.
A police autopsy showed multiple blows to the head with a blunt instrument killed Campbell. Her arms also were injured, indicating she tried to block the blows, police said.
Ganir said police recovered the suspected weapon used - a bloodstained pole made of hardwood similar to a baseball bat that villagers use to pound rice.
Investigators also found Campbell's camera, umbrella, and two pairs of sunglasses along with some coins scattered on the ground about 25 meters from her grave, said Chief Superintendent Raul Gonzales, the regional police chief.
He said police have no arrest warrant yet and are waiting for the required autopsy report and death certificate before filing a criminal case.
A councilor in Banaue, Jun Addug, earlier said a 13-year-old boy saw Dontugan going to the dry creek where Campbell's grave was found on April 18.
Another official - who refused to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media - cautioned that police have found only "circumstantial evidence," and have no witness who actually saw Campbell's death.
Dontungan's wife told GMA television her husband was not in Batad when Campbell disappeared, but Ganir, the police chief, said Dontungan left the village the following day.
Ganir said investigators were looking into "robbery with homicide or rape with homicide."
Stacy MacTaggert, a US Embassy spokeswoman, said Campbell's remains would be brought home to her family in Fairfax, Virginia, as soon as legal requirements, such as a death certificate, are completed.
The death of Campbell - a freelance journalist who had reported for The New York Times and other media organizations - left 136 other Peace Corps volunteers in the Philippines. She had been teaching English at the Divine Word College in Albay Province's Legazpi city, southeast of Manila, since October 2006. (VR/Sunnex/AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Baguio. (April 24, 2007 issue)
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