Delgado slay suspect charged

Manila Police District (MPD) investigators challenged Luisito Gonzalez to prove his innocence in court following the filing of robbery with homicide and frustrated homicide charges against him yesterday in connection with the slaying of his stepbrother, Federico Delgado.

On the other hand, Gonzalez’s lawyer, Perry Pe, lashed out at The STAR for its alleged "one-sided reporting of the Delgado slaying."

Pe said his client could not have been involved in the crime since "he is currently in a physically and emotionally disabled state of depression arising from the death of his mother."

Gonzalez was confined at the Makati Medical Center’s maximum security from March 7 to 18 and could not have been at the scene of the crime on March 10, Pe said.

"Stop writing on the story. You always based your story on (MPD homicide section head Chief Inspector Alejandro) Yanquiling," Pe told The STAR over the phone.

The STAR has been calling members of the Delgado and Gonzalez families but the calls remain unanswered until Pe’s statement was e-mailed to The STAR last Wednesday.

Pe took exception to the layout in yesterday’s issue, wherein a sketch of the suspect and picture of Gonzalez were laid side by side.

"We have strong evidence to pin him (Gonzalez) down on the slaying of... Delgado. His photo and the cartographic sketch furnished by our main witness matched," Yanquiling said.

The filing of charges against Gonzalez is a pre-requisite in order to secure a hold departure order against him. The MPD will also request the Department of Justice to place the suspect on a watchlist.

Investigators said Gonzalez’s escape from confinement at the hospital last Monday, where he was reportedly undergoing "detoxification" boosted their theory that he had been involved in the killing.

Gonzalez was also identified by Annalisa Peseco, 20, as one of two men who fatally stabbed her boyfriend last March 10 at the fourth floor of the family owned Mayflower building in Malate, Manila. The suspects also took away cash, jewelry and valuables from Delgado’s vault.

Peseco, who is five months pregnant with Delgado’s child, was also attacked by the suspects. She survived and is now under protective custody.

Pe denied that Gonzalez escaped from the hospital and said his client was transferred from the hospital basement upon the advice of his doctors since the facility – primarily a drug abuse rehabilitation center – is not appropriate for "his condition."

"Louie is not well and will need professional care to regain his emotional equilibrium. He has no history whatsoever of violence. Neither is he a greedy person who only cares about inheritance and money," Pe said in his statement.

Pe said he will release Gonzalez’s records of admission and discharge to prove his client’s innocence in due time.

Police are also looking into the possible connection of Gonzalez’s driver-bodyguard, identified as Antonio Buenaflor, 50, in Delgado’s killing. Buenaflor reportedly facilitated Gonzalez’s escape from the hospital.

Investigators said Buenaflor could be Gonzalez’s companion when he allegedly committed the crime. Yanquiling said Peseco can identify the other suspect since she "vividly recalled the voice of one of their attackers."

Gonzalez – reportedly close to Delgado’s father, 91-year-old Don Francisco "Paco" Delgado – is one of four children of Victoria Quirino Gonzalez from her first marriage.

Don Paco married Victoria when his first wife died. He has six children, including the victim, by his first wife.