MANILA, Philippines—A forensic expert from the University of the Philippines who conducted a second autopsy on the body of broadcaster Ted Failon’s wife Tuesday said the gunshot wound on her head indicated a suicide.

Dr. Raquel Fortun told reporters at the Arlington Memorial Chapel in Quezon City that traces of soot on Trinidad “Trina” Etong’s scalp and inside the wound showed that it was a contact wound.

Etong was found shot in the head at the family home in Tierra Pura Subdivision in Quezon City on April 15; she died late on April 16 at the New Era General Hospital.

“The manner of death is the issue,” Fortun said. “It is a self-inflicted and intentional injury. Everything would be consistent with a suicide.”

But a ranking official of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said the direction of its inquiry into Etong’s death was “leaning toward parricide” before the case was transferred to the National Bureau of Investigation.

The source, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to discuss the case with reporters, cited the bullet’s trajectory and the purported discrepancies in the statements of Failon (Mario Failon Etong in real life) and housemaid Carlota Morbos on the discovery of Etong in a bathroom.

“Right to left trajectory, and the direction is downward,” the source said. “The exit wound is at least 2 centimeters lower than the entry wound.”

The source said that from the trajectory and the measurements of the entry and exit wounds, “the person who was holding the gun was higher than the victim.”

He also said that in her earlier statement, Morbos said Etong was “found sitting near the toilet bowl,” while Failon said she was “sprawled on the floor.”

“Investigation showed that the victim was bending over the toilet bowl when the shot happened, based on the location of the bullet impact [behind the toilet bowl],” he said.

Close-range fire

Fortun was asked by the Etongs to conduct another autopsy on the body as the family wanted it cremated on Wednesday, according to family lawyers Vinee Bayhon and Arnold Perez.

“We want to remove all doubts and to aid the investigation,” Perez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

Fortun conducted the autopsy from 2:20 to 5:20 a.m. Tuesday, assisted by workers at the memorial chapel.

She said she had presented her findings to the family and was willing to give copies of her report to investigating bodies such as the NBI.

Asked to describe the bullet trajectory, Fortun said it entered Etong’s right temple and exited on the left side near the front.

“[The bullet] would cause the laceration of the brain and the destruction of critical organs of the body. The range of fire would show that the muzzle of the gun was very near or next to the skin,” she said.

Fortun also found traces of soot on the scalp, soot deposits under the scalp, and inside the entry wound.

“When the muzzle is very close to the skin, you tend to find smudging ... We would see this as close-range fire. The implication is that the muzzle is not just very close but next to the skin,” she said.

Fortun said the injury was a contact wound, as opposed to a non-contact wound in which there would be “tattooing” (or gunpowder particles found in clumps on the skin).

She said “tattooing” would mean that “there was a distance from which the victim was shot.”

“As far as the manner of death is concerned, I believe it was a suicide,” she reiterated.

No one else in house

Asked if Failon could have shot his wife, the QCPD source said: “Yes, because there was no one else in the house that entered the room before him, based on their statements given to the police and subsequently submitted to the court.”

According to the source, the bullet’s trajectory is always given more weight in declaring the shooting a suicide or not.

“The usual trajectory of the bullet by a person committing suicide is upward,” he said. “I have yet to encounter a suicide with a downward trajectory because common sense dictates that it would be awkward for that someone who wants to commit suicide to point the gun downward.”

The source also said Failon’s actions were “not normal” for someone whose wife was in critical condition: “He left the hospital to go home while his wife was fighting for her life.”

Per the hospital’s record book, Failon brought his wounded wife to the emergency room at 10:50 a.m. on April 15 and left at around 1:50 p.m.

“Despite the emergency, his immediate instruction to the guard upon arrival was the media and the police must not be informed,” the source said.

What body is saying

Asked if she considered the body to be of greater weight than the other evidence, Fortun said: “In a way, [yes], because the body is there. This is what the body is telling us, what the evidence on the body is saying.”

Fortun said she found no significant injury on Etong’s body apart from the single gunshot wound on her head.

“If there was someone else, there should be indications of a fight, that the person tried to resist,” she said.

And although Etong’s body tested negative in the paraffin test, Fortun said that methodology was not reliable.

“It does not distinguish a shooter from a non-shooter. It is not scientific at all,” she said.

Fortun said Etong’s brain was no longer intact when she conducted the autopsy due to severe injuries and laceration caused by the bullet.

She said a suicide was usually characterized by a contact wound, as this would indicate the victim’s intent to pull the trigger.

“Arguably, you can shoot someone really close. But you have to consider how she was found, what people close to her are saying. Is it that easy to put a gun to someone’s head and pull the trigger?” Fortun said.

Similar writing style

Supt. Franklin Moises Mabanag, the head of the department that looked into Etong’s death, refused to confirm the QCPD source’s statements but said “the similarity of the writing style” between Etong’s purported suicide note and Morbos’ handwritten statement would strengthen the theory that it was not suicide.

“We will present the specimens to a handwriting expert. But even without an expert, you could immediately see the similarity,” Mabanag said.

He said it was Failon who submitted the letter to investigators early on in the police probe.

The QCPD district director, Senior Supt. Elmo San Diego, said they were “so close to wrapping up the investigation” when the National Police Commission ordered that the NBI take charge.

Like Mabanag, San Diego refused to confirm the source’s statement that the direction of the police investigation was leaning toward parricide.

But he hinted that it could be true: “The result of the investigation would vindicate the QCPD.”

The two officials were among those suspended in connection with the “overkill” arrests of Failon’s in-laws and house help for alleged obstruction of justice.

Mabanag claimed that he was being vilified for doing his job. His wife Geraldine said their children were “hurting.”

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that “personally,” he thought the preventive suspension was “rough on the police.”

In a preliminary hearing Tuesday before Assistant City Prosecutor Mary Jean Pamittan, Failon and the five other respondents—his sister-in-law Pamela Arteche Trinchera and house help Glen Polan, Frida Bollecer, Pacifico Apacible and Morbos—said through their lawyers that there could be no obstruction of justice without a crime.

Failon et al. filed their six counteraffidavits to the QCPD charge that they committed obstruction of justice by cleaning up the “crime scene” and failing to report the shooting.

Mabanag, Supt. Gerardo Ratuita, Chief Inspectors Cherry Lou Donato and Enrico Figueroa and Senior Insp. Roberto Razon attended the hearing as the complainants. With reports from TJ Burgonio, Norman Bordadora and Cake Evangelista