No clues yet in murder of Ecija lawyer

SAN LEONARDO, Nueva Ecija — Authorities still have no solid clues in the murder of a prominent lawyer in front of his house here last month.

SPO4 Eutiquio Fajardo, deputy police chief here, admitted that probers are at a loss in the killing of 62-year-old Reynaldo Reyes in the absence of any witnesses.

"There is no angle yet. Even his relatives could not pinpoint anyone. All they say is that Atty. Reyes was a virtuous man and had no known enemies," Fajardo said.

He said a political motive is remote, and that police are not even considering this angle.

Reyes is the brother-in-law and legal counsel of former provincial board member Froilan Nagaño Sr. who lost by a mere 62 votes to Mayor Ramon Revilla-Bautista in the 2001 elections.

Pedro Roque Jr., head of the Cabanatuan Ciy office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), said they are also groping for leads in the case.

Reyes was shot dead before midnight of April 30 in front of his house in Barangay Mambangnan here.

He was sleeping with two nephews when the gunmen knocked on the door and shot him in the head and the body when he went out.

Police said that two weeks prior to the incident, a red pick-up was seen roaming around the area.

Reyes was laid to rest at the municipal cemetery last May 7, coinciding with the 18th birthday of his daughter Reyzamym and two days after the 16th birthday of another daughter, Reychelle.

Reyes’ widow, Greta, has appealed to the police and the NBI to exert extra efforts to go after her husband’s killers.

She also urged the public to volunteer information that could help solve the case.

Mrs. Reyes aired the appeal before she left for Sacramento, California where she works as a computer programmer.

Asked if she intends to seek Malacañang’s help, she said, "I want to give the local police and the NBI a chance. I don’t want to bypass them," she said.

Mrs. Reyes said she last talked to her husband over the phone last April 6. After that, he merely sent text messages to check on their children.