Baguio lawyer’s assassin falls

BAGUIO CITY — Police nabbed yesterday the alleged assassin of prominent Baguio lady lawyer Victoria Manapat Sturch, less than a week after her murder.

Reynaldo Hernando, 26, a waiter at a restaurant here, was arrested after he and another man appeared at police station 7 to file a complaint on a work-related case.

Police readily identified him as his appearance matched the cartographic sketch prepared by the police based from descriptions given by witnesses to the daylight murder.

Probers said Hernando did not wear any mask to hide his face when the crime was committed and fled on foot.

Sturch was gunned down on Tuesday last week in front of the Land Bank of the Philippines along Harrison Road here while she was waiting for a ride. She died from a lone gunshot wound in the nape.

Although initially police theorized that Sturch, a longtime corporate law professor at the Baguio Colleges Foundation, may have been killed due to her work, other angles may now be uncovered as Hernando’s elder sister Virginia, who also arrived at the prosecutors office to defend her brother, was a secretary of the slain lawyer from 1986-2002.

Hernando’s father, Ulysses, was also employed by Sturch for 18 years. He was identified by Sturch as one of those who attacked her in September last year in front of her house.

Virginia, however, said that his brother was in Alaminos town in Pangasinan when the crime was committed. She added that they have lots of relatives in the said town who can attest that Hernando was there when Sturch was gunned down.

Initially, police offered a P100,000 cash reward for anyone who can help them track down Hernando. A "dedicated" police team was also formed to solve the case and arrest the suspects .