Wanted stepbrod surrenders

The former husband of singer Kuh Ledesma, tagged in the murder of a scion of a prominent Manila family, surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday.

Luisito Gonzalez maintained that he did not kill his stepbrother, businessman Federico Delgado, 51, who was stabbed dead on March 10, 2007 in the Mayflower building in Malate, Manila.

Gonzalez was accompanied by his lawyers, led by Lila Quirino, at the NBI. Quirino is Gonzalez’s aunt.

The NBI, after taking Gonzalez’s fingerprints, presented him to the Manila Regional Trial Court then brought him back to the NBI jail. Quirino spoke to reporters on Gonzalez’s behalf.

She said they received a copy of a court order for an arrest warrant, and Gonzalez “voluntarily surrendered, notwithstanding his innocence, in order to clear his name.”

“He wants nothing less than all charges for murder against him dropped for lack of probable cause,” Quirino said, adding that the case is set for oral argument at the Court of Appeals today.

She said that when Delgado was killed, Gonzalez was in rehabilitation at the basement of Makati Medical Center.

“From March 7 to March 18, he was fully sedated,” Quirino said. “We have 30 affidavits (from) doctors and nurses… They are disinterested parties.”

The Manila Police District (MPD), which investigated the case, said Delgado’s 20-year-old companion, Annaliza Pesico, who was severely injured during the attack, has identified Gonzalez and his driver, Antonio Buenaflor, as the primary suspects.

Buenaflor is reportedly at large.