EDITORIAL - Dead end

Now that prosecutors have dropped the case against Norwegian Sven Berger and his Filipino girlfriend Karen Esdrelon, authorities still interested in solving the case of abduction and murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique should shake a leg in catching the real culprits.

Much hype has been generated by the authorities about already knowing several vehicles that match the type and numerical portion of the license plate of the vehicle that witnesses say was used in the crime. So what is happening concerning this lead? What’s taking so long?

On the other hand, have the authorities bothered to check on probable motives? Have they bothered to find out why anybody would snatch and kill a little girl? Does anybody have an axe to grind against anybody affected by this case.

The problem with how this case is proceeding is that it seems to rely too much on the account of witnesses and almost on nothing else. Take the case of three young children pointing out Berger and Esdrelon. Did the authorities bother to see how reliable the children were?

Positive identification is only as reliable as the reliability of the witnesses. Now, it may be argued that children do no lie. But it can also be equally argued that they are not infallible either. Children can be wrong.

Besides, it is the nature of children to act together. It is not hard to imagine that when one pointed at Berger and Esdrelon, the rest only did the same. Try validating this with any other children and you will be surprised at how true this is.

As to the numbers on the license plate provided by witnesses, didn’t it strike the authorities as odd that virtually all the witnesses would remember only the three numbers and nobody seemed to notice the three letters?

What is going on here? Are the authorities only trying to titillate the public to give the illusion that the case is moving? If this is all there is, it was good Berger and Esdrelon were freed because in all probability they were innocent.

Indeed, in all the time the authorities had custody of the couple, not a peep was heard about any effort to check if Berger and Esdrelon had any motive to commit the crime they were accused of committing. Forgot the basics? Here they are: Motive. Means. Opportunity.