TV reporter to testify in Campbell murder case

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – An ABS-CBN reporter will be asked to present in court the video clip of his interview with the self-confessed killer of American Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell during the resumption of his murder trial in Ifugao next week.

When he returns to the witness stand at the sala of Banaue-Lagawe Regional Trial Court Judge Esther Piscozo Flor tomorrow and on Tuesday, ABS-CBN reporter Jay Ruiz is expected to present his interview with the suspect, 25-year-old Juan Donald Duntugan, shortly before the latter gave himself up to the authorities.

In the interview, Duntugan allegedly admitted that he killed the 40-year-old Campbell with a club and a piece of rock last April, although he claimed that he did not intend to kill her as he mistook her for a neighbor with whom he had had a grudge.

Ruiz earlier told the court about the circumstances of his interview with Duntugan, ultimately leading to his surrender.

In the last hearing earlier this month, the prosecution presented an employee of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration who said it was not so dark at the time Duntugan killed Campbell for him not to recognize her, disputing the claim of Duntugan’s legal counsels, lawyers Pedro Mayamo and Eugene Ballitang.

During the past several hearings, the prosecution had sought the testimonies of Campbell’s mother Linda regarding her recollection of her daughter.

It also asked a teenage eyewitness to show that Duntugan was at the crime scene at the time of the killing and presented several expert witnesses from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory to testify on matters proving that he willfully committed the crime, show that evidence in the case is being safeguarded from contamination, and identify the victim. 

Campbell, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, was scheduled to fly back to the United States from her stint as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English at a public school in Sorsogon province when she decided to go on vacation for several days in Banaue, Ifugao last April. 

Shortly after arriving in Batad village in Banaue, Campbell failed to appear for a scheduled massage at her rented cottage, prompting her masseuse to report her absence to local authorities.

The US Embassy later declared Campbell missing and sought information on her whereabouts.

After almost three weeks, search teams found Campbell’s body half-buried in a shallow creek in Batad, only a few hundred meters below Duntugan’s house.