2 charged for murder of Pinay slay suspect

TORRANCE, California – Two men have been charged in Los Angeles County with murdering a woman who was under investigation for plotting her husbands’ deaths 19 years apart in the Philippines.

Eric de la Cruz and Fernando Romero pleaded not guilty Tuesday to one count each of conspiracy and murder.

The criminal complaint alleges that the men, both Navy sailors at the time, shot 60-year-old Sonia Risken in the back of the head in April 2007 at her Lomita home. The complaint also alleges De la Cruz, the grand nephew of the victim, sent an e-mail to the sister of one of Risken’s slain husbands, volunteering to arrange Risken’s death.

Risken was being investigated by police for the deaths of her two American husbands, who were both shot in the head nearly two decades apart while visiting her family in the Philippines.  – AP