ANGELES CITY- The case of Mark Dizon, who hogged the headlines nationwide over three years ago after he was tagged as suspect in the serial killings here, has yet a long way to go.
Dizon, suspect in the murders of three foreigners and several others in July, 2010 when he was 28 years old, has remained at the city jail here as government prosecutors have not finished presenting evidences and witnesses against him, said lawyer Joy Arenas, clerk of court of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 58 in this city.
Arenas said the court, presided by Judge Philip Iturralde, has been meticulous in dealing with the case because of its magnitude. Dizon, a computer technician and refl exologist, is facing five counts of murder, one count of carjacking and three counts of robbery before the sala of Iturralde.
The case with Branch 58 concerned only one of the series of killings attributed to Dizon. This case involved the fatal shooting of retired US Air Force MSgt. Albert Mitchell, 70, and his wife Janet and their househelps Isabel Fajardo, Marissa Prado and Yulberto Catli in their home in Hensonville Court Subdivision in Barangay Malabanias here on July 22, 2010.
Government prosecutors initially said they would present 16 witnesses in the cases against Dizon. Aranas said the prosecution has presented about 10 witnesses, even as she described the evidences against Dizon as being merely circumstantial so far.
She could not say when the prosecution would finish presentation of witnesses, but added that so far, the prosecution has presented no direct evidence to establish Dizon’s guilt. The “smoking gun” used by the suspects in the killings has also remained missing, she added.
Dizon was arrested in San Fernando, La Union on July 27, 2010, five days after the last of a series of murders all committed here in the same month. He was also the suspect in the murder of South African national Geoffrey Allan Bennun, 60, and his live-in partner, Abegail Helina, 20, whose decomposing bodies were found inside their house at Oasis Hotel and Villas in Clarkville Compound in Barangay Anunas here on July 12 in the same year.
Police said Dizon was also the suspect in the murders on July 16 of Briton James Bolton Porter, 51, and his live-in partner, Melissa Madarang, 22, in their house at 4-11A Nicolas Street in Sta. Maria Subdivision in Barangay Balibago here.
The carjacking and one theft charges dated back to 2003, for which a warrant of arrest was issued against Dizon in 2005, although he was not arrested then, Dizon had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
