Editor cleared of parricide charges

The editor-in-chief of a publishing firm was cleared by the Makati City prosecutor’s office of parricide charges filed against him for the death of his wife last September.

In an 18-page resolution, second assistant city prosecutor Henry Salazar said the prosecution failed to establish probable cause against Ibarra Gutierrez, editor-in-chief and chairman of the board of Media G8way Corp.

Gutierrez was charged with parricide in connection with the death of his wife, Delia, president and chief executive officer of the same company.

"After a thorough examination and evaluation of each and every piece of evidence submitted by the parties and the arguments advanced in support of their respective submission, the undersigned believes and so holds that there exist no sufficient evidence which warrant a finding of probable cause for the crime of parricide," the resolution read.

Media G8way is the publisher of magazines like PC World.

Records showed that in September last year, Delia’s body was found inside the comfort room of her office at the third floor of the Eurovilla II Building in Makati City. She bore several stab wounds in the chest and her neck was slashed.

Relying on the testimony of employees of Media G8, who all pointed to Gutierrez as the last person they saw entering the victim’s office, and the findings of Dr. Voltaire Nulud, medico legal officer of the Southern Police District who conducted the initial autopsy on the victim, the Makati police filed parricide charges against Gutierrez.

Gutierrez denied killing his wife, saying that she committed suicide due to the company’s financial difficulties.

In dismissing the case against Gutierrez, Salazar cited that there was no commotion or struggle in the comfort room where Delia’s body was found, indicating that there was no assault.