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ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The Iloilo Regional Trial Court (RTC) acquitted on Thursday two brothers of criminal charges in the 2006 killing of their businessman father, step-mother and six-year-old half-sister.
In a 59-page decision, Judge Globert Justalero of the RTC Branch 32 acquitted Jan Michael and Archie Tan of parricide and murder charges in relation to the killing of prominent Iloilo businessman Francisco “Bobby” Tan, his wife Cynthia Marie Zayco-Tan and their daughter Katherine.
The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the brothers beyond reasonable doubt.
The decision was issued on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the killings.
The victims were found dead with multiple stab wounds in the chest inside the two-story family mansion in Molo District in Iloilo City early January 9, 2006. Francisco was found dead on his bed in the master bedroom, Cynthia Marie in Archie’s room, which was adjacent the master bedroom, while Katherine was found at the doorway of her parent’s room.
Police had accused the brothers of conspiring to kill their parents because they bore grudges against their father and stepmother. Katherine, who slept in her parents’ bedroom, was probably killed because she knew the identity of the killers, according to investigators.
Archie, then 20, and Jan Michael, then 18, are Francisco’s sons from a previous relationship. The slain couple had five children.
The family owns the Crown Agro Chemical, a chain of stores selling pesticides, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs.
The brothers have repeatedly denied the accusations.