CHRISTINE Lee Silawan’s self-confessed killer is physically and mentally fit to stand trial, a state doctor said on Wednesday, April 17.
This as the Lapu-Lapu City Government is expected to release the P1 million reward it promised to give to any person who can help solve the murder.
Dr. Rene Obra, the head of the Center for Behavioral Sciences of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), made the conclusion after a two-day psychological examination on Renato Llenes last Saturday, April 13, and Monday, April 15.
Obra led the two-hour psychological examination on Llenes following the request of the Police Regional Office 7.
Obra said Llenes was able to provide a “blow-by-blow account” of how he met and subsequently murdered Silawan in Barangay Bankal in Lapu-Lapu City, including how he made the fictitious Facebook accounts that he used to communicate with the victim.
Llenes also disclosed to Obra that his addiction to illegal substances started when he was 13 years old, when he began using “rugby,” a household epoxy which could be addictive if abused.
At 18, Llenes started using methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu until his late 30s.
At 39, Llenes began peddling illegal drugs on the street.
He said that he sniffed an undisclosed amount of shabu just a few hours before he met Silawan on March 10.
Llenes admitted to Obra that he had no recollection of how he argued with Silawan and killed her using a pair of scissors.
Obra admitted he was surprised that Llenes felt guilty about Silawan’s death and immediately surrendered to police.
When asked by Obra if he was indeed the “CJ Diaz” whose Facebook account was contacting Silawan, Llenes told the doctor that he had sought help from Silawan’s soul just to open Diaz’s account.
“He had hair-raising revelations. He said he asked Christine to help him open the account of CJ Diaz, his fictitious account, because it couldn’t be accessed.”
Though he eventually concluded that he sees no signs of psychological instability in Llenes, Obra admitted they cannot determine if he is lying or not.
“He is physically and mentally fit. We have not elicited any morbid psychiatric or cognitive dysfunction from him.”
Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza said they will give the money despite some negative reactions from the public, who blamed the putting up of the bounty for the different results of investigations conducted by the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7.
NBI 7 agents earlier arrested the former boyfriend of Silawan and they claimed to have evidence to prove his participation in the crime.
For their part, the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office caught Llenes, who admitted to killing the 16-year-old girl.
Both murder complaints against Silawan’s former boyfriend and Llenes are pending before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office.
According to Radaza, the reward money will be given after the investigating prosecutor’s resolution of the two complaints.
The mayor refused to comment on who among the two suspects had involvement in Silawan’s murder, saying it is the job of the prosecutor to weigh evidence. (JKV, KAL)