NBI to look into secondary evidence in Failon case

MANILA, Philippines – After failing to conduct its own autopsy on the body of Trinidad Etong, wife of ABS-CBN news anchor Ted Failon, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is now focusing on gathering “secondary evidence” to determine what really happened inside the couple’s home on the day preceding her death.

NBI spokesman Ricardo Diaz said the evidence would have to corroborate the initial findings of the police and the NBI would compare this with claims of forensic experts proclaiming Mrs. Etong might have committed suicide.

Diaz stressed the NBI investigators must go beyond what the police had initially gathered in the house to finally determine the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Etong’s death.

“We cannot stop there (failing to conduct their own autopsy),” he said.

Diaz explained the secondary evidence could be the autopsy report of the Quezon City Police District on the body of Mrs. Etong.

“This (autopsy report) may also be primary because they were the ones who were first on the scene of the incident,” he said.

Diaz added the NBI would also take into consideration the autopsy report of Dr. Rachel Fortun, a private forensics expert reportedly tapped by Failon to conduct an autopsy of the body of his wife.

“As a matter of fact, we would like to see her (Fortun’s) report. We want her to submit a report,” Diaz said.

Diaz said the NBI would review Fortun’s report on “findings of fact and conclusion.”

“If you have seen an autopsy report, that’s what it is. There (are) findings of fact and conclusion. As far as findings of fact are concerned, we will take that (report of Fortun) into consideration,” he said.

Diaz said they would compare Fortun’s autopsy report to the findings of the NBI forensic experts.

According to Diaz, NBI investigators will retrace the last hours of Mrs. Etong by interviewing several people, not just the witnesses inside the house of Failon.

He said the NBI would interview the relatives, friends and neighbors, and check on Mrs. Etong’s mental state days before she allegedly took her own life.

Failon and his family maintained Trina had committed suicide.

But Diaz said there should be exhaustive interviews with witnesses to determine what could have driven Mrs. Etong to end her life.

“The public, who has been waiting, should know,” said Diaz, stressing the NBI’s policy of transparency.

Diaz said the NBI would apply profiling or “psychological autopsy” on Mrs. Etong and her immediate family members for experts to determine behavioral changes.

He also said the NBI’s ballisticians would play a huge role in the investigation and check out the fatal weapon, a 9-mm Walther PPK automatic, which was allegedly used by Mrs. Etong to shoot herself.

On the possibility of tampering, Diaz said it would be impossible to determine if somebody else handled the gun.

Diaz said they would check on the gun if it was recently fired, along with the slug and the shell recovered and compare them if they came from the same gun.

Police have already conducted ballistics test on the handgun but Diaz stressed the NBI would have to recheck it.

The QCPD, which has agreed to turn over the investigation of the case, has given the forensics and autopsy report to the NBI.

Diaz, however, said the QCPD has yet to turn over the handgun for examination.

Diaz noted the QCPD has certain rules and regulations regarding the turnover of evidence to another investigating body.

However, the NBI might be forced to resort to a court order to force the QCPD to hand over the gun, he said.

Last Thursday, the NBI conducted a forensic examination inside the bathroom where Mrs. Etong was found bleeding to death from a gunshot wound in the head.

A simulation of the incident at the crime scene was also conducted inside the bathroom to check the trajectory of the bullet and the spots where the blood could have splattered with the use of polylight equipment.

Diaz added the NBI would also check if neighbors heard a gunshot emanating from the Failon residence.

Diaz said the bathroom was located inside the bedroom, making it very difficult for any sound to be heard.

It took the NBI about five or six hours last Thursday to conduct the simulation and forensics test at the Failon residence.

Failon rushed his bleeding and unconscious wife to the New Era Hospital where she died the next day.

Failon claimed he and his maids found Trina slumped on the floor of his daughter’s bathroom and bleeding from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head.

Police have filed charges of obstruction of justice against Failon and several of his household and relatives for failing to report the shooting to the authorities and cleaning the “crime scene” of any trace of possible evidence.