Robredo: Evidence still insufficient to link 3rd Dominguez brod to key witness slay

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo on Wednesday said there was still not enough evidence to connect the third Dominguez brother arrested Tuesday in Malolos, Bulacan to the cases of his two older brothers or to the killing of star witness Alfred Mendiola and two other men.

Robredo said Ryan Dominguez, 20, along with two other men, was arrested on charges of illegal possession of firearms, explosives and drugs after Bulacan policemen caught them in a compound in Barangay (village) San Agustin.

But he was not arrested because he is being accused of involvement in the killing of Mendiola and (Venson) Evangelista,” said Robredo. Evangelista was a car dealer allegedly killed in January 2011 by members of the Bulacan-based Dominguez carjacking ring supposedly led by Ryan’s older brothers, Roger and Raymond.

Robredo added, however, that ballistics analysis of the .45 cal. pistol found in Ryan’s possession and his companions should reveal if this was the weapon used in the killing of Mendiola, whose testimony pinned down Roger and Raymond and helped put them behind bars.

Two M-16 rifles were also reportedly found in the group’s possession.

Mendiola and two others, Mark Herrera and Eriberto Jumaquio, were found dead, bound and gagged in Dasmariñas City in Cavite province on Sunday morning. The three victims each had a gunshot in the head from a .45 cal. pistol.

Roger and Raymond Dominguez are facing car theft with homicide charges for the killing of Evangelista and another car dealer, Emerson Lozano, in separate incidents in Quezon City in January 2011.

Senior Inspector Don Dixie De Dios, public information officer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said cross-matching would be done on the evidence recovered from Ryan.

“The recovered items there will also be assessed and compared to those found on (Mendiola) to determine if there’s a connection, but we’re not immediately connecting the Ryan Dominguez case to his killing,” he said.