POLICE filed yesterday the murder complaint against the suspects in the killing of call center supervisor Lynn Vi Ebarita.
Upon the advice of her lawyer, detained suspect Jonnelle Enfectana, 26, a co-worker and close friend of the victim, refused to sign a waiver of detention since they will question the legality of her arrest and the search on her boarding house.
Both the arrest and search were done without warrants.
Michael Enriquez, Enfectana’s lawyer, asked to be placed on record that the suspect was brought to the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office after the 36-hour reglamentary period already lapsed.
Prosecutor Bienvenido Mabanto, during the inquest, gave the suspect a chance to submit controverting evidences but Enfectana, through her lawyer, declined to do so.
Based on the evidence submitted by the police, Mabanto promised to resolve the case next week.
Enfectana will remain detained at the Subangdaku Police Station.
The suspect was arrested last Wednesday for the killing of Ebarita, whose body was found last Jan. 22 with 24 stab wounds and placed in two sealed garbage bags at
the Nikkei Garden Hotel in Mandaue City.
Ebarita, a single mother of a seven-year-old child and Enfectana’s supervisor at call center firm TeleTech, was believed to have been killed last Jan. 18 or 19 while
drinking with Enfectana’s relatives inside the hotel.
She is believed to have refused to have group sex with the suspects.
Ebarita’s father said he has forgiven the suspect and he just wants to let the law take its course.
“Kung di man ugaling siya (Enfectana), motug-an na lang siya kung kinsa (If she didn’t kill my daughter, she should just identify the culprits),” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
Enriquez, in an interview after inquest, said his client did not sign the waiver of detention since they will question the validity of the arrest and the eventual detention of his client.
“If we sign a waiver, it would necessarily follow nga mamatay among claim for an illegal arrest,” Enriquez said.
Enriquez also said the evidence against his client are all circumstantial and not enough to link her to the crime.
“There was never an instance and no witness that (could point that) she (Enfectana) was in the hotel when the crime was committed,” he said.
On the police’s possible use of the printout of the chat messages between Enfectana and Ebarita’s boyfriend a day or days after her death, Enriquez said there are rulings and standards to be followed on the use of electronic evidence.
He said it is up to the prosecutor to assess if the rules apply.
He said the justifications given by the police on the arrest of Enfectana without a warrant would not suffice to qualify their operation as a “hot pursuit.”
He also described as illegal the absence of a warrant during the search on Enfectana’s boarding house. Police found Ebarita’s wallet there.
He said his client shared the room with another boarder. Also, many people had access to the common wash area where the victim’s wallet was found.
Mabanto said he had asked the suspect during the inquest proceedings, which started at 8:30 a.m. and ended at 3:40 p.m. yesterday, if there was an instance when her co-boarder and Ebarita met before the crime was committed.
Enfectana said no.
With regard to the search that led to the discovery of the victim’s wallet in Enfectana’s boarding house, Chief Insp. Eddie Recamara explained to Mabanto that they secured the permission of the house owner.
Together with the complaint sheet the police submitted to the prosecutor’s office were affidavits of three TeleTech employees who saw Enfectana and Ebarita during the Sinulog; the suspect’s landlady; the victim’s sister; the victim’s neighbors; the investigators and arresting officers.
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