Briton faces murder charge anew

A BRITISH national is facing yet another murder complaint in relation to the deaths of two teenagers in barangay Cansamoroy, Balamban town, northern Cebu, in January 2010.

A murder complaint was filed against Frank Richard Bell last Tuesday, over a year after the first murder complaint filed against him was dismissed for insufficiency of evidence.

A father of one of the teenagers filed the complaint before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutors’ Office.

Bell was accused of hitting the motorcycle driven by 19-year-old Marlou Allan Flores Borja—a Filipino-American from Toledo City—and his 16-year-old cousin Holden Mancia.

Bell denied the allegations.

“I relentlessly pursued my quest for justice on the deaths of my son and his cousin. My prayers were answered when a certain person, accompanied by his daughter, went to my house … told me what he witnessed,” said Marlou’s father Allan.

The witness claimed to see a silver-colored van hit the motorcycle driven by one of the suspects.

Also, the witness said the “white man” hit the head of one of the victims using a “white metallic object” and planted some evidence to make it appear that the two victims fired a gun.

Allan said he learned that his son Marlou had an “amorous relationship” with a woman who happens to be the wife of Bell.

“This relationship is a very strong motive of Frank Bell to do harm to my son,” Allan said.

In his counter-affidavit, Bell denied  killing the two victims.

He said he was driving his SUV Kia Sorento at around 3 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2010, at the Transcentral Highway when they were ambushed by two unidentified men on board a motorcycle.

Bell said the two men cut in front and fired at his vehicle. He said he sped off and drove all the way to Cebu City.

Also on board the vehicle was Bell’s 4-year-old daughter and a housemaid.

Bell  suffered minor face injuries after he was hit by glass shards from the broken windshield.

Bell and the two teenagers tested positive for gunpowder burns but none of them suffered gunshot wounds.

Police said the two men died from injuries suffered from a motorcycle crash.