EDITORIAL - Murder, she wrote

A second autopsy on the body of Jun Villamor, one of two alleged middlemen who reportedly arranged for the murder of broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa, reveals he did not die of natural causes, but that he “died from suffocation by means of a plastic bag over his head.”

This was one of the findings of top forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun.

“The autopsy findings showed no gross morphologic cause of death and this is consistent with the reported asphyxia,” read a portion of Fortun’s autopsy report published in an online news report.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla seems to agree with the findings.

“Ang pagkamatay po ni Jun Villamor ay hindi po aksidente. Hindi po atake na natural, ngunit isa pong pinagplanuhan na kamatayan,” Remulla said.

Even as a method of suicide, one does not usually asphyxiate one’s self with a plastic bag. So we can only conclude that other people “helped” Villamor reach the point of asphyxiation.

We are also taking artistic license with the title of this editorial, as although Fortun’s findings determined foul play, those same findings cannot confirm if the death was a result of the developments in the Mabasa case, or for totally unrelated or different reasons.

However, we still suspect the death had something to do with the Mabasa case. The signs are too glaring to ignore, like the timing of the death and the text message from Villamor to his sister about fearing for his life.

There is still one more alleged middleman in the case; police and jail officials better be sure he stays alive to shed light on the events, or even testify. For now, he remains the only person who can keep this investigation moving forward --unlock the next level, so to speak.

If that middleman somehow croaks before his time, we can only conclude that he was either extremely unlucky or that the influence and powers of the people who want to prevent the solution of this murder case reach farther and longer than we previously thought.