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Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Campbell slay suspect charged with murder
MANILA -- Police officials are exercising caution in acknowledging the statement of Jose Duntugan, the self-confessed killer of US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell in Ifugao a few weeks ago.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Calderon feared that the confession of Duntugan, who surrendered on Friday, could be aimed at mitigating his role in the killing.
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Campbell's body was found half buried in Banaue town on April 18, or 10 days after she was reported missing. Campbell, of Fairfax, Virginia, had planned to see the area's famed mountainside rice terraces.
Forensic test showed that Campbell's head was bludgeoned, bolstering an earlier theory that she was attacked.
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"We are not taking his statements hook, line and sinker. We want to crosscheck his statements with evidence and the findings of our own investigation," Calderon said of Duntugan, a 24-year-old woodcarver.
Calderon and other police officials presented Duntugan to the media on Monday. As Calderon was privately asking question to Duntugan during the press briefing, the suspect broke into tears and did not make any statement on the advice of his lawyers.
Police investigators filed a murder charge against Duntugan before the Ifugao Provincial Prosecutor's Office.
Evidence submitted with the charge includes Duntugan's sworn statement and those gathered by the police.
Duntugan, at the news conference, appeared scared, bowing his head before TV cameras and photographers. He wore a red shirt marked "USA" with an American flag.
In a signed statement to police, a copy of which was seen by The Associated Press, Duntugan described in detail how he hit Campbell with a rock and dragged her body into a ditch, where he struck her repeatedly with a stick. He left but returned hours later to bury her under cover of darkness.
Duntugan said he was annoyed because of a quarrel with a neighbor, who had been firing his gun in their neighborhood. When Campbell accidentally bumped him on a narrow trail, Duntugan dropped his bag and "my mind went blank" and attacked her.
Asked by a police interrogator how long he hit her head with a stone, Duntugan replied: "I think about five minutes. I don't remember how many times I hit her with that stone."
Duntugan surrendered Friday in Ifugao, about 260 kilometers north of Manila. Cordillera Police Regional Director Raul Gonzales said that guided by Duntugan, they were able to recover several other pieces of evidence, including a bloodied shirt and cap that he threw away after burying Campbell, the wooden stick he used to hit her, and some of her belongings near the scene of killing.
Calderon said they are collating the evidence to bolster their case against Duntugan. Authorities earlier said there at least two suspects in the killing of Campbell. Ifugao provincial prosecutor Marvin Ngayawan said he and other prosecutors would evaluate the evidence submitted by police, including the statements of at least six witnesses, then decide whether he could be charged in court with murder or homicide.
Duntugan said a few hours after surrendering last week that he did not plan to kill Campbell and dismissed speculation that he killed her during an attempted rape or robbery. The police chief could not say if Duntugan's surrender would be a mitigating circumstance.
"The surrender last week of Juan Donald Duntugan is an encouraging development in the investigation. And we acknowledge the efforts of Duntugan's mother and an uncle who facilitated the surrender," he said.
Calderon said Duntungan could have given up because he is bothered by his conscience, noting that the suspect has no criminal record. The suspect was brought to Camp Crame on Sunday night and will be brought back to Ifugao anytime Monday.
Campbell, 40, had worked as a freelance journalist for The New York Times and other media organizations. Her death has drawn national attention because of her volunteer work in Legazpi City in the Bicol region, where she last worked as an English teacher, and in nearby Sorsogon province, where she helped launch an ecology awareness campaign.
Gonzales said the killing has tarnished Ifugao, famous among tourists for its panoramic rice terraces and gentle villagers. "Hopefully we can recover with the passage of time," he said. (VR/Sunnex/AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (May 1, 2007 issue)
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