Police file case vs husband of woman found dead in car

CEBU, Philippines - Police yesterday filed parricide charges against businessman Wayne Christopher Uy and four others in relation to the death of Uy’s wife, Agnelen.

Agnelen was found dead inside a vehicle along Almendras Street, Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City on October 28.

Aside from Uy, facing charges as alleged conspirators are Celestino Abayata, Jr., Joel Acot and two alleged kidnappers.  SPO3 Filomeno Mendaros said it took them 15 days to file the complaint because they had to make sure they had enough evidence to support the charges.

In a joint affidavit, Mendaros and SPO2 Rommel Bancog of the city police’s homicide section said it was security guard Wilfredo Paspie who found the green Kia Picanto that contained Agnelen’s body.

Paspie was making his routine check at the premises of Alcon Arcade at around 7 p.m. when he first saw the vehicle with plate number YDL514 parked along Almendras Street right beside the arcade.

Hours later at nearly 6 a.m., Paspie noticed that the vehicle was still at the area so he approached it and checked only to see inside “a woman lying motionless whose feet were tape-tied.”

He then called for police assistance. Personnel of the Mobile Patrol Group came and cordoned the area.

Mendaros and Bancog said a caliber .45 live ammo and a plastic container containing gasoline were recovered from the crime scene. The victim sustained a gunshot wound on the left side of her neck.

Investigators identified the woman as Agnelen based on her identification card.

The Certificate of Registration and Official Receipt found at the vehicle placed the car under the ownership of Gregg Victor Gabison, a resident of Minglanilla, Cebu, but Gabison would tell dyAB later that he had sold the vehicle to Uy. He showed a Deed of Absolute Sale as proof.

Police then considered Uy a “person of interest” and, during investigation, learned from him that he and Agnelen were on board the Kia Picanto on October 28.

Uy said they were talking about their annulment at that time and when they were travelling at the North Reclamation Area, two men on board a motorcycle reportedly blocked their way, prompting them to stop.

One of the men reportedly approached the couple’s vehicle and pointed a gun at Uy, forcing him to disembark. The other suspect then took over the wheel and drove away with Agnelen.

Uy would later report the incident to Police Station 2 in Mandaue City.

In the course of the investigation, police invited Abayata, Acot and Renato Cortez, one of Uy’s employees, for questioning.

Abayata appeared before the office but did not issue a word while Acot did not heed the invitation.

Cortez, for his part, said in a sworn statement that Uy made him monitor Agnelen when she’s on the road and until she reaches their house in Urban Deca Homes in Mandaue City.

Police said video footages gathered from the alleged site of the kidnapping at the North Reclamation Area contradicted Uy’s statement that it happened at about 7 p.m. because he was seen at the area two hours earlier.

In a sworn statement, taxi driver Gerardo Janson said Uy had flagged his cab down at the back of a retail store at the North Reclamation Area on October 28.

“The statements of Janson bolster the very crucial circumstance that when the alleged carnapping-kidnapping happened at about 7 p.m. of October 28, 2015 as claimed by Wayne, the latter was no longer inside the Green Kia Picanto he was somewhere else since the captured video footages was at about 5:40 p.m. more or less of October 28, 2015,” the cops’ joint affidavit reads further.

When shown the video footages, Agnelen’s parents and relatives identified Uy positively as the man who alighted from a Green Kia Picanto and walked towards a waiting taxi cab at the back of the retail store.

Mendaros admitted they filed the charges based on circumstantial evidence. — /JMO (FREEMAN)