YEARENDER:Cop tells Enzo’s pa details of son’s slay

MANILA, Philippines - At a little past midnight on Aug. 27, in a dark room at Camp Karingal, Tom Pastor met with Police Officer 2 Edgar Angel, who spoke on the details of a grisly murder. 

It was the first time the two men met face to face. They could barely see each other’s faces due to the power outage at the police camp at that time.  

But despite the darkness that filled that room, Angel, a confessed gunman, shed light on a case that was very important to Tom – the murder of his own son, champion car racer Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor.  

The STAR had broken the story of Angel’s arrest – before dawn on Aug. 27 – by the time that meeting between Tom and Angel happened.  

Angel had been in police custody on Aug. 22 for a drug offense. After he confessed to the killing of Enzo, the police set up an entrapment to arrest businessman Domingo “Sandy” de Guzman III, who was taken into custody on the afternoon of Aug. 27. 

Enzo’s killing hogged the headlines – it happened in Quezon City on the night of June 12, the Thursday before Father’s Day.   

Owing to his status as an international racing champion, Enzo’s case was the subject of a special police task force. It was such a high-profile case that it was even mentioned by President Aquino in his State of the Nation Address.  

But the case became even more sensational because of Angel’s revelations that Enzo’s own wife, Daliah, was allegedly involved in the murder. 

Based on Angel’s allegations, De Guzman was Daliah’s lover and the two were purportedly the ones behind Enzo’s killing. 

From November to June, from Magallanes to QC

The time it took to convince Angel to carry out the murder – from November 2013 to June 2014 – was almost as eventful as the time he allegedly traveled to tail his target – from Magallanes to the corner of Visayas and Congressional Avenues on the night on June 12. 

During his conversation with the elder Pastor, Angel said De Guzman contacted him in November 2013. The two had been “kumpares” as De Guzman’s ex-wife was godmother to Angel’s youngest child.

 After the first call was made, the two men allegedly met in Pasay, where he was allegedly told that De Guzman wanted him to kill someone. They did not reach an agreement.  

In January, they had a conversation and it was during this time when De Guzman allegedly told Angel he was doing it for a friend, who was allegedly a battered wife. The two eventually parted, still not reaching an agreement.  

De Guzman allegedly made another call in February, during which Angel explicitly asked De Guzman if the woman was his lover. De Guzman told him the woman was just a friend. Angel then dared De Guzman to bring photos of the woman as proof. When they met after that call, Angel was shown photos of Daliah, with bruises on her arms and face. 

It was during this meet-up that De Guzman allegedly left Angel with P50,000 as down payment. Angel was then told the target would be the woman’s husband, He, however, was not told the target’s name. He accepted the amount and spent it, saying he was short of cash during that time.  

Angel did not hear from De Guzman for a long period and he thought the plan had been scrapped.  

However, in June, he finally received the text message: “Game na!” The police officer was allegedly told by De Guzman that the latter would provide the motorcycle and the gun to be used.  

Angel was even told the target would be driving a van carrying a racecar, with the marking “DHL.” The vehicle would come from Batangas and be passing Magallanes. The target would be heading for Subic. 

Angel even claimed he eventually met Pastor’s wife on June 11 when De Guzman supposedly told him that the woman was the one in the photos he had seen in the past. During that meet-up, Angel was seated at the back of De Guzman’s sedan while De Guzman and Dahlia were allegedly in front. 

On the afternoon of June 12, Angel went to a mall in Magallanes, where he picked up the motorcycle left behind, allegedly by De Guzman. The gun was in the motorcycle’s seat. 

The alleged gunman claimed he tailed the van as it traversed C5 Road, trying but never finding an opportunity to fire his shots.  

The opportunity came at the traffic intersection of Visayas and Congressional Avenues, where Pastor’s van was had stopped at a traffic light. Angel grabbed the chance: he got off his motorcycle, walked to Pastor’s vehicle and shot at his target.  

Moments after the killing, he allegedly told De Guzman on the phone: “Tapos na (It’s done)!” Before meeting De Guzman, Angel abandoned the motorcycle under the Magallanes flyover. 

 The two men then allegedly met early the next day along Macapagal Boulevard, where  he supposedly returned to De Guzman the .45 caliber pistol he used and was given the balance of P50,000. And it was only through the news reports that Angel knew the person he had killed was Enzo Pastor, the champion car racer.

Upon Angel’s arrest, policemen used him as bait to take De Guzman into custody. On Aug. 26, De Guzman was arrested after he allegedly handed over the “bonus” he purportedly promised Angel. 

Murder, parricide

Both Angel and De Guzman were charged with murder before the Department of Justice  for Enzo’s killing and frustrated murder for the injuries sustained by his companion at the time of the slay.

Daliah, who remains at large even up to the time of this writing, faces complaints for parricide and frustrated murder. 

De Guzman and Daliah both denied having involvement in Enzo’s killing. The two have even used as defense Angel’s recantation days after his arrest.

The DOJ eventually indicted Angel for murder before the regional trial court in Quezon City, giving credence to his earlier admission. 

The cases against Daliah and De Guzman were not part of the resolution on Angel’s charge, as these are still undergoing preliminary investigation.