Man held for judge’s slay ‘fall guy,’ says Dominguez lawyer

CITY OF MALOLOS—-A man, who was arrested on Friday for the 2015 murder of Bulacan Judge Wilfredo Nieves, was a “fall guy,” according to the lawyer of convicted car thief Raymond Dominguez.

Lawyer Jose Cruz on Saturday said the arrest in Manila of suspect Jay Deogrades Joson led the police further away from the “real gunmen” who shot and killed Nieves in November last year.

Joson was arrested at a Manila hospital where his children had been confined.

Dominguez is serving a 17- to 30-year jail term at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City after he was convicted by Nieves in 2012 for car theft.

Dominguez and Joson were charged with murder before Bulacan RTC Judge Maria Maruja Narvaiza-Mendoza, who issued the warrant of arrest against Joson on Feb. 2.

In an affidavit he issued shortly after Nieves’ murder, Dominguez denied taking part in the attack. He also described Joson and another suspect, Arnel Janoras, as “fall guys.”

Janoras was killed hours after his arrest in January this year. He allegedly tried to grab the handgun of his police escort.

“For all we know, the persons behind the killing are now laughing, drinking and celebrating, as they eluded authorities, with the tagging of [Dominguez] as the mastermind,” Dominguez said in his affidavit.

Nieves was driving home to Metro Manila from the Bulacan court when he was attacked by gunmen along the MacArthur Highway here.

Cruz said the police had cited Janoras as their source for charging Dominguez and Joson with murder for the attack on Nieves. “A dead man tells no tale,” Cruz said.

An informant had led the police to Janoras, who was tagged as the triggerman, according to a report of the Task Force Nieves.

Police arrested Janoras in San Jose del Monte City a week after Nieves’ murder. Before he was killed, Janoras executed a sworn affidavit that identified Joson as the man who hired him to kill the judge.

The task force report cited closed-circuit television footage at the national penitentiary and its visitor’s list showing that Joson had been a regular visitor of Dominguez. Carmela Reyes-Estrope,Inquirer Central Luzon