Suspects Supt. Raphael Dumlao, SPO3 Ricky Santa Isabel, SPO4 Roy Villegas, Gerardo Santiago and Jerry Omlang appeared Wednesday for their pre-trial before Judge Irineo Pangilinan.
Asked by senior state prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera on their role in the homicide, kidnap and catnapping charges filed before the court, their counsels asserted “lack of knowledge.”
Navera told the court he would present 14 witnesses in the case while defense counsels told the court they would present 20 witnesses for Sta. Isabel, five for Dumlao, four for Villegas, and two for Santiago.
Pangilinan deferred the pre-trial of Omlang because his lawyer was reportedly sick. He set the first trial of the other suspects on Sept. 7 which would be Omlang’s pre-trial.
Dumlao, who used to be head of the PNP Anti- Illegal Drugs Group, and Santa Isabel arrived separately and were seated far apart on the court room benches. While Santa Isabel and Villegas wore thick bullet proof vests, Dumlao did not.
Also present during the pre-trial was the victim’s wife Choi Kyung Jin who wore black dress and black hat. Three other Koreans, reportedly from the South Korean embassy, were also present. Choi was observed to have briefly cast a cold stare at Dumlao seated at her back during a lull in court proceedings.
Marisa Morquicho, Jee’s newly-hired house help who was abducted with Jee but later released, was also present and wore dark glasses and a bandana covering her head and parts of her face.
Morquicho had tagged Santa Isabel as the one who had abducted Jee. Santa Isabel, however, claimed it was Dumlao who actually killed the Korean in Camp Crame.
Jee was abducted from his home in Friendship Plaza Subdivision in this city on October 18 last year and later killed inside Camp Crame in Quezon City. His remains were later cremated at the Green funeral homes owned by Santiago.
