After 20 years, lawyer found guilty of killing wife

MANILA, Philippines — After almost two decades, justice has finally been served to the family of Edith Ocampo who was killed by her own husband in 2002.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 21 found lawyer John Fabico, who used to work at the Philippine National Oil Co. and Energy Development Corp., guilty beyond reasonable doubt of parricide.

In a 35-page order dated May 31 penned by Judge Alma Crispina Collado Lacorte, Fabico was sentenced to reclusion perpetua (between 20 and 40 years imprisonment) without eligibility for parole.

The judge also ordered him to pay the heirs of Ocampo a total of P300,000 for civil indemnity, and moral and exemplary damages, subject to interest of 6 percent per year.

Fabico was also ordered transferred from Manila City Jail to New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.

In a message to the Inquirer, the Ocampo family said they were grateful for the court’s verdict to stand on its ground to uphold the truth.

“At last, justice has prevailed and the death of our beloved sister Edith is finally vindicated. Nobody is above the law,” they added.

Edith Ocampo was found dead inside the bathroom of the main bedroom of their house in Tondo, Manila, past 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2002. Investigators said she was shot twice in the chest at close range.

The court ruled that while the prosecution failed to present an eyewitness that Fabico had murdered Ocampo, it was able to present evidence establishing the crime of parricide.

The decision mostly cited the testimony of the family house help, whom Fabico had accused of killing Ocampo.

The maid told the court that from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on the day of the crime, only Ocampo and Fabico were inside the main bedroom. At past 11:30 a.m. she heard a gunshot. She saw Fabico’s shirt with bloodstains on it.

Past noon, she saw Fabico had left the house, which was corroborated by their neighbor.

Fabico’s siblings and parents then arrived at the house, forcibly opened the master’s bedroom and brought the body of Ocampo to a hospital, despite the advice of authorities not to move her until police had arrived.

Fabico’s father also ordered the maid to clean the blood in the crime scene but failed to finish when she saw a gun.

An investigator of the case also testified that Fabico admitted owning a gun, but turned it over to his brother “for safekeeping” only on the date of the crime.

Alibis dismissed

The brother then told the court he threw the gun at a river on Road 10 in Tondo because he panicked (“nataranta”).

The court dismissed Fabico’s alibis that he was not at the crime scene when his wife was killed.

He said he was at his workplace on the time of Ocampo’s murder, but he was not able to present documentary evidence of his attendance at his workplace.

Fabico also told the court he deposited money at a bank on Jupiter Street in Makati during the time of crime. However, the bank certification he presented did not state that he personally deposited the check.

The court also dismissed the testimony of the couple’s two minor children denying that their father was in the house during the commission of crime as “mere statements without sufficient proof.”

8 years hiding

The parricide charge against Fabico was only filed in court around two years later on Sept. 27, 2004.

Fabico filed several pleadings with the court and with the Department of Justice, delaying the trial. The court was only able to issue a warrant of arrest against Fabico on Jan. 30, 2009, and an alias warrant of arrest on July 29, 2009.

He hid for more than eight years and was only arrested by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in his mother’s house in Malate, Manila on Aug. 27, 2017.

During his arrest, he initially denied that he was the subject of the warrant, but later admitted it was him after police showed him his photos.

He was transferred to Manila City Jail on Aug. 30, 2017, and during his arraignment pleaded not guilty.

The Ocampo family said they could not extend forgiveness to Fabico as he “had shown no remorse” over his crime.

“In the future we may also find forgiveness in our hearts to be able to live in peace and move on. But there is no peace without justice. So he has to service his time in jail for the gruesome murder he committed,” they added.