Fil-Am pleads not guilty to 2015 murder of Zambales woman

Jonathan Dewayne Viane. ALLAN MACATUNO/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON

IBA, Zambales—Filipino-American Jonathan Dewayne Viane pleaded not guilty to killing a 23-year-old woman whose burnt remains were found in a river dike in San Felipe town last year.
Viane was arraigned on Thursday at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 71 here on murder charges filed by relatives of Karie Ces “Aika” Mojica.
Mojica, a resident of Barangay (village) Sta. Rita in Olongapo City and a store supervisor, was found dead at a portion of the Sto. Tomas River dike in San Felipe town on July 25 last year.
RTC Branch 71 Judge Consuelo Amog-Bocar ordered Viane detained at the provincial jail after denying a petition filed by his lawyers to place the American under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Viane, a 29-year-old American prison guard, was extradited  to the Philippines on May 1.
He flew back to the United States on July 26 last year shortly after policemen launched a manhunt for him and another suspect, Niño de la Cruz.

READ: Suspect in Olongapo woman’s slay falls
US marshals arrested Viane on Sept. 3, 2015 in Iowa, while members of the police’s Special Action Force in Metro Manila arrested De la Cruz on Aug. 12.

READ: US marshals nab Fil-Am suspect in Zambales woman’s murder
Agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation turned Viane over to the NBI at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Josar Mojica, the slain woman’s father, said, “I still have mixed emotions seeing him (Viane) in person. I wanted to ask him why he killed my daughter.”
Josar said his daughter was killed after being dragged into Viane’s marital problem. Mojica and the suspect’s wife, who is based in the US, were friends, he said.
Josar said Viane left his wife in the US and took their son to the Philippines in April last year to escape a custody battle.
The judge also ordered the provincial warden to explain within 24 hours why the other suspect, De La Cruz, was allowed to keep and operate gadgets, such as computers and mobile phones, inside his cell.
Lawyer Josefina Bueno, counsel of the Mojica family, manifested in court that De la Cruz had been posting photographs on social networking site Facebook from inside jail.

Bueno presented print outs of the photos showing the suspect and other detainees, one of whom had a mobile telephone./rga