MANILA, Philippines?Genalin Mangudadatu suffered a ?cruel, brutal and treacherous? death, according to the report of the medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Genalin, the wife of Buluan, Maguindanao Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, sustained 17 gunshot wounds, 16 of them fatal, said Dr. Ricardo Rodaje, who testified at the petition for bail of Andal Ampatuan Jr., the main suspect in the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao.

Under questioning by private prosecutor Prima Quinsayas, Rodaje said he performed the autopsy on the bodies of Genalin and seven other female victims.

?The victim died in a cruel, brutal and treacherous manner...The gunshot wounds caused massive bleeding as it (damaged) the victim?s internal organs,? he said.

Because autopsy goes against the culture of Islam, Rodaje examined Genalin?s body in the presence of Mangudadatu and other relatives.

Genalin was leading a convoy that was on its way to the Maguindanao capital town of Shariff Aguak to file the candidacy papers of her husband who was running for governor, a post that Ampatuan Jr. was also planning on contesting.

According to reports, Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town, led a group of about 100 gunmen which abducted the Mangudadatu convoy as it passed through Ampatuan town. Before the day was over, 57 people, including 30 journalists accompanying the convoy, were dead.

Quinsayas asked Mangudadatu for permission to show photos of his wife?s mangled body on the widescreen projector.

The vice mayor agreed but while the second photograph was being shown, he stepped out of the court room, his eyes welling with tears.

Mangudadatu said if not for the earring on his wife?s right earlobe, he would not have been able to identify her as her face was totally disfigured.

Rodaje said Genalin?s bullet wounds were caused by high-powered firearms. She was apparently shot at close range, based on the size of the bullet wounds. An exit wound on her right thigh was as big as a saucer, the NBI doctor said.

He said the victim could have died just 20 seconds after she was shot.

Aside from the bullet wounds, Rodaje said he noticed three lacerations on Genalyn?s genitals, groin and under her navel. He said she probably sustained the wounds when she was still alive, citing the appearance of the lesions.

Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun questioned Rodaje?s expertise and credibility, insisting that the incise wounds must have been caused by ?mishandling? of the body.

?It is not, Sir. The wounds were made when the victim was still alive,? Rodaje countered.

Ampatuan Jr. Wednesday pleaded ?not guilty? to an additional 15 murder charges in connection with the Nov. 23 massacre, bringing to 56 the number of murder cases he now faces. Authorities have yet to indict him for a 57th case as one body remains unidentified.

Fortun nudged his client to walk three steps toward a microphone to enter his plea before Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes.

Afterward, fireworks erupted between prosecution and defense panels as Fortun accused Mangudadatu of making the accusations against his client because his family stood to benefit politically from the Ampatuans? downfall.

Also Wednesday, the relatives of 14 of the journalist victims filed a petition, the first of its kind, at the newly formed Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, asking the body to make the Philippine government accountable for the massacre.