Former suspect in Nida case nabbed

The man who had confessed to murdering actress Nida Blanca only to recant and accuse police of torturing him into admission is back in police custody.

Philip Medel Jr., 54, was arrested yesterday in Cebu by a joint team from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) based on a warrant for libel.

He was taken into custody moments after attending his brother’s funeral in Cebu. Medel was immediately flown to Manila on board Philippine Airlines Flight 866.

Medel claimed he was arrested for "telling the truth."

The libel complaint was filed by police Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina, who had headed Task Force Marsha, the lead investigating group in the Blanca murder case.

Medel had earlier accused the police of abducting and torturing him. He claimed the police wanted him to implicate Blanca’s husband, Rod Strunk, in the crime.

The NBI is set to hold a press conference in connection with Medel’s arrest today.

Blanca’s body was found in the backseat of her car early in the morning of Nov. 7 last year. The car was on the sixth floor parking lot of Atlanta Centre in Greenhills, San Juan where she worked as a director of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Strunk, a former American actor, first met Blanca — Dorothy Jones in real life — in 1964. They got married in the United States in 1979, although her previous marriage was annulled only two years ago.

6 suspects to be charged today

"We have strong evidence and the witnesses to back-it up."

This was how National Bureau of Investigation Director Reynaldo Wycoco described the final stage of its probe of the murder of veteran actress Nida Blanca with the filing of murder charges against six persons today before the Department of Justice.

The murder complaint will be filed by the NBI with the CIDG which had earlier conducted an investigation of the case under its Task Force Marsha.

Though Wycoco refused to identify those to be charged, he said that three of the suspects would be charged as principals while the other three will be charged as accessories to the crime.

Wycoco said that one of the principal suspects has an outstanding arrest warrant and is now being closely watched by NBI agents.

Asked if Medel was the one being watched, Wycoco merely said, "All I know is that he (Medel) has an outstanding arrest warrant."

Wycoco added that one of the principal witnesses is also being courted by the NBI to turn into a state witness.

He also refused to comment if Strunk would be among those to be charged as principals. Strunk is now in the United States. Wycoco said all of the suspects are males. — With Mike Frialde