Marital woe seen in killing of female lawyer in Mandaue City

CEBU CITY—A marital woe turned deadly could be behind the killing of lawyer Amelie Alegre in Mandaue City, according to a friend of the victim who survived the attack that killed Alegre.

Alegre was killed on the spot in an ambush staged by two men on board a motorcycle past 6 p.m. on Thursday in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City, Cebu.

Two of her companions were wounded—law partner Briccio Joseph Boholst and staff member Antonio Pino.

Boholst, former Mandaue city administrator and Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter head, said he was privy to the strained relationship between the victim and the latter’s husband, Ryan.

Boholst told the Inquirer that Alegre received numerous death threats from Ryan since they separated in 2008.

“I couldn’t think of other motives behind the gruesome slay of Attorney Alegre. Yes, we do have huge cases in our law firm but they do not warrant any violence. The only person who has the capacity to do this is her ex-husband,” Boholst told the Inquirer.

Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., Mandaue City police director, said Ryan would not be considered a suspect until such suspicion is supported by evidence.

But he said investigators would summon Ryan to shed light on reports that he had threatened his ex-wife.

The Inquirer visited Ryan’s house in Barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City to get his reaction on Alegre’s killing and the accusations leveled against him.

A man, who was his companion in the house, told the Inquirer that he didn’t want to talk about the case.

Boholst, 52, and a resident of Barangay Looc in Mandaue City, was at the backseat of the car driven by Alegre when they and their office staffer were ambushed by two unidentified men on board a motorcycle past 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Alegre died of multiple gunshot wounds in the body while Boholst was hit in the left leg and Pino, in the stomach.

When interviewed on his hospital bed on Friday, Boholst said he believed that the strained relations between Alegre and her husband were motive enough to have the lawyer killed.

“That fear of losing your business, that single business [could really be the motive to kill someone]. His (Ryan) family is afraid that Attorney Alegre will take that property away from them,” he said.

Alegre and Ryan got married in 2004 but their relationship started to fall apart after four years and Ryan asked the court to annul their marriage.

Alegre filed a petition for a temporary protection order with a prayer for the separation of property.

One of the pieces of property that Alegre wanted divided is a fishpond in Talisay City, south of Cebu.

Boholst said the property used to be owned by Ryan’s father. Its ownership was eventually transferred to Ryan. When he and Alegre got married, they had a conjugal ownership of the property.

In 2010, Boholst said Ryan was on board a car driven by his mistress when the vehicle hit Alegre while she stood outside a fastfood restaurant in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City.

The incident left Alegre with a broken leg. She had to be operated on and the leg wa supported with titanium to allow her to walk.

Due to threats from Ryan, Boholst said Alegre would have wanted to have her driver trained on how to handle a gun and shoot.