Girl, 6, murdered

[Josieyam65]

BARILI, CEBU -- Ellah Joy Pique, 6, found dead at the foot of a cliff along the national road in Barangay Sayaw, Barili town, more than 40 kilometers away from home.
Her naked body was tightly wrapped, along with three rocks, in two cream-colored blankets. Gray cables snaked around the tiny bundle.
The discovery ended a frantic search by her father Renante, 40, who began looking for Ellah at 5 p.m. Tuesday when she failed to come home from the Calajo-an Elementary School in Minglanilla town.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory in Central Visayas will conduct an autopsy on the body, which was dumped near a beach resort.
Ellah's two classmates and companions said that they were heading home from school when the black car, with brown lines on its sides, stopped in front of them.
This happened just a few meters away from the school.
The two children remembered that the license plate number ended in "679" but couldn't recall the prefix.
According to the children, the woman told Ellah to get inside the car.
"Day, sakay diri kay ihatud tika sa inyoha, kaila mi sa imong mama (I'll bring you home. I know your mother)," she reportedly said.
Without any hesitation, Ellah, who was very friendly, got inside and sat on the woman's lap. She waved goodbye.
That was the last time her friends saw Ellah alive.
Laurel, in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, said they are trying to come up with the sketches of the Caucasian man and the Filipino woman, through the help of the two witnesses.

[Sim11UK]

:NoNo::NoNo::NoNo::NoNo::NoNo::NoNo:

[keithAngel]

the local rags have speculated on kidney transplant and rape impossible to tell yet:cwm23:

[stevie c]

whoever is responsible should be hung drawn & quatered the sick b******s :NoNo:

[Tawi2]

Last year a relative of mine,quite a high ranking cop told me of two cases in Mindanao on the same day,one was a 16 year old kid who raped his younger sister,the other was an uncle whi raped his niece,and I one watched an ABS/CBN report on a grandfather who raped his grand-daughter then strangled her,set fire to the house to try and cover up his crime :NoNo: Paradise has thorns.

[Terpe]

............. :NoNo: Paradise has thorns.

Everywhere has thorns.
Japan has a very low crime rate expressed as a statistic.
During the time we lived there there were some horrific and similar incidents.

It's all too easy to find a wicked world, if you look.

[Arthur Little]

Japan has a very low crime rate expressed as a statistic.

Nowadays, perhaps ... but there are still many people around with long memories of the cruelties :xxaction-smiley-047 inflicted by the Japanese!

[Dedworth]

Just shows that these vile perverts and peadophiles are all over the world. Unfortunately the majority of them are not executed so the best we can hope for is that they get regular savage beatings in jail.

I remember reading a court report about a creature who raped and murdered a toddler in Malaysia - he was sentenced to 15 brutal strokes of the cane and then to hang. That's the sort of deterrent message that needs to be sent out to the scum. Well done Malaysia and Singapore who lead the world in no nonsense deterrent penalties.

[Josieyam65]

Autopsy report said that the victim's hymen was intact, but she had contusions and bruises on her arms and mouth. Her lower lip was also lacerated; there was a fracture on her skull, and a wound on her back, indicating that the victim may have been struck by a hard object.

[Sim11UK]

:NoNo::NoNo::NoNo::NoNo::NoNo::NoNo:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20110213-320136/Filipina-Norwegian-held-for-murder-of-6-year-old-girl

[joebloggs]

:NoNo::angry:
he arrived on the 7th of feb, and was stopped at the airport on the 12th leaving for H/K :NoNo:

[Terpe]

I would not want to make judgement on this right now. There just does not appear to be enough facts one way or the other

[fred]

I would not want to make judgement on this right now. There just does not appear to be enough facts one way or the other


Thats true Terpe but they still charged them based on two kids that were asked to identify them.
The Norwegian has an alibi with witnesses in two different locations that so far the police have not bothered to investigate.
The cops found the black SUV with brown stripe but have not yet indicated if they have found any physical evidence linking it with the two suspects.. To be honest I doubt any forensic tests were made.
These two will be detained and held indefinitely until this case goes to court.
In the mean time I am instructing the school guards not to let my kids out during school hours..AT ALL!

[keithAngel]

This is an interesting report

http://www.cdn.ph/photostore/i_editorial.php

Its asking the same questions expats have been asking on local forums

[joebloggs]

I would not want to make judgement on this right now. There just does not appear to be enough facts one way or the other

your right, but
The pimp confirmed that he had supplied young girls to the Norwegian.

The girl, on the other hand, identified the Filipina and the foreigner as the ones who picked up Pique while they were heading home from school last week.

The police then took the couple to the CPPO headquarters where classmates and friends of Pigue came to identify the two suspects.

[Terpe]

your right, but
The pimp confirmed that he had supplied young girls to the Norwegian.

The girl, on the other hand, identified the Filipina and the foreigner as the ones who picked up Pique while they were heading home from school last week.

The police then took the couple to the CPPO headquarters where classmates and friends of Pigue came to identify the two suspects.

Yes. But.....
Who gets the reward?????
It's easier to get kids to say yes or no, than maybe or it's possible.

Joe, maybe maybe.... just I feel uneasy right now. It's really tough.
Then the lawyer said that alibi is nothing compared to positive ID!! Mmm
But then again at the back of my mind this may be more of a Euro crime than Asian.
Sorry to say that.

[joebloggs]

Yes. But.....
Who gets the reward?????
It's easier to get kids to say yes or no, than maybe or it's possible.

Joe, maybe maybe.... just I feel uneasy right now. It's really tough.
Then the lawyer said that alibi is nothing compared to positive ID!! Mmm
But then again at the back of my mind this may be more of a Euro crime than Asian.
Sorry to say that.

yes, hopefully we'll know pretty soon if they have any dna etc..

[joebloggs]

interesting :Erm:

http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?coun_code=ph&news_id=8334

[bruneicop]

something just doesnt ring true with this story, i bet its someone she knew that turns out to have done it, sad but it normally is in these cases.

Hopefully the Phil police will realise this mistake and let these inoocent people go now, its crazy that they wont look at all the evidence.

[fred]

NBI STEPS IN LIE DETECTOR? 2/16/2011
Gwen calls in new probers; Kidnap with homicide case filed

By Ador Vincent Mayol, Reporter Their alibi checks out. The Norwegian engineer and his Cebuana fiancee who were charged yesterday by the police with kidnapping and homicide were telling the truth when they said they were in Cebu City in the afternoon of Feb. 8, when 6-year-old Ellah Joy Pique was abducted by a car-riding couple in the southern town of Minglanilla.

That's what agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Central Visayas (NBI-7) will report to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

She called in the civilian agency yesterday to validate the couple's story, amid doubts that police had rushed to file a case with weak evidence.

NBI agents followed the itinerary described by 49-year-old Sven Erik Berger and Karen Esdrelon, 24, who are at the center of Cebu's most controversial case of child-snatching and suspected human trafficking.

NBI agents talked to staff of the Norwegian Language School in Lahug, where the sweethearts visited to enroll Esdrelon in a language course about 3:30 p.m of Feb. 8.

Agents viewed security videotapes of the Waterfront Lahug Hotel, whose camera recorded the couple checking in at 4:40 p.m.

But that didn't stop the Cebu provincial police from filing charges against the couple for the “complex crime” of kidnapping with homicide and violation of the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act. (See related story on Page 2).

Ellah Joy was abudcted about 4 p.m. as she and other pupils were walking home from the Calajoan Elementary School in Minglanilla town on Feb. 8.

Witnesses said a woman with a Caucasian male driving a black sports utility vehicle stopped by and persuaded the little girl to accept a ride home with them. The woman, a slim, dark-skinned Filipina with long straight hair, pretended to know Ellah Joy's mother.

The NBI-7 findings about the suspects' whereabouts on Feb. 8 were not part of the evidence cited by police in their charges.

NBI-7 Director Edward Villarta said his men just have to finish verifying the couple's itinerary and submit a report to Governor Garcia.

“Hindi na kami pumasok dahil nafile na sa piskal. Bahala na and piskal to determine kung ifile sa court o idismiss. (The NBI-7 could no longer intervene in the case because charges have been filed before the prosecutor. It's now up to the prosecutor to decide whether to file the case in court or order its dismissal),” Villarta told Cebu Daily News.

Governor Garcia is chairman of a new Provincial Anti-Crime Taskforce, and even dropped in the police camp last Sunday to meet Berger and Esdrelon who were undergoing investigation.

She apparently wasn't satisfied with the progress.

Governor Garcia called Villarta on the phone yesterday and asked the NBI-7 to verify the couple's claim that they were nowhere near the scene of the crime in Minglanilla town on Feb. 8 when the little girl was kidnapped.

Ellah Joy's naked body turned up on Feb. 9, wrapped in blankets and stuffed in a sack that was dumped off a cliff in Barili town on the other side of Cebu island. There was no sign of rape but the girl was killed with a blow to the head.

Defense lawyer Salvador Solima said he is optimistic the charges against his clients will be dismissed as a case of “mistaken identity.”

While the suspects were “positively identified by three children, who are Ellah Joy's classmates, “documentary evidence cannot be disproved,” the lawyer said in an interview.

He urged the NBI-7 to conduct a separate investigation to find out who the real killers are.

He also suggested that the young witnesses undergo a lie detector test because they may have been coaxed to pinpoint the couple.

The trail followed by NBI-7 agents yesterday included private offices, the Norwegian Consulate, two hotels in Lapu-Lapu and Cebu City, and Tuburan town, northwest Cebu where the couple said they spent time with each other before they were arrested last Saturday.

Berger had flown into Cebu from Norway on Feb. 7.

NBI-7 agents traced his movements from the day he arrived to Feb. 12, when the couple were arrested at the airport.

They gathered a receipt and testimonies from the owner of the Norweigan language school in Cebu City.

They talked to the waiter of Family Choice restaurant next door who confirmed the presence of Berger and Esdrelon who ate there past 4 p.m. Of Feb. 8.

The security management of Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City can also attest that the two suspects stayed in the hotel based on the hotel's closed-circuit television (CCTV).

NBI-7 Assistant Director Lauro Reyes and Supervising Agent Rennan Augustus Oliva went to the Sigvathsen Norweigan Language School in Cebu City.

Its owner Vernel Christy Gaviola-Sigvathsen confirmed that the couple dropped in around 3:30 pm last Feb. 8 to enroll for Norweigan language studies and left about 4:10 p.m.

Sigvathsen said she personally signed the receipt to prove that the couple paid P2,000 as reservation fee with Esdrelon's classes to start on Feb. 28.

“I'm willing to testify. Around five people, including me, two receptionists, and two students can attest that Berger and Esdrelon were here,” Sigvathsen said.

Sigvathsen said she was “shocked” to learn from media reports about the couple's arrest.

“We are sure they (suspects) are innocent unless they can travel to Minglanilla in 20 minutes),” she said.

Sigvathsen said the couple arrived at about 3:30 pm and left at around 4:10 in the afternoon.

Sigvathsen, a Filipina, said her Norweigan husband was upset with the case.

“We are very disappointed. Journalists from Norway hid their (suspects) identities in their reports. But here comes the local media, revealing their names and photos. No clear investigation was made,” she said.

Sigvathsen also expressed disappointment over the police arrest.

“Its a big embarassment for these two people. Shame is irreparable. Why were they indentified as suspects? They were here (when the adbuction happened). The statement I gave was the truth,” she said.

The NBI-7 yesterday took Sigvathsen's testimonies.

The couple's itinerary that day included checking out of Days Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City, visiting Colon Street, Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño and Metro Gaisano Colon.

The next day, Feb. 9, the couple went to the the Norwegian Consulate to apply for a tourist visa for Esdrelon before they took a rented car with driver to go to Tuburan town, where they stayed until Feb. 11.

The NBI-7 was able to confirm the couple's visit to the Keppel Building, site of the consultate, at around 3 p.m. Based on the guard's logbook.

Another NBI-7 group went to Tuburan, Esdrelon's hometown.

[jazz]

Poor baby... i'll pray for her. :*(

[keithAngel]

your right, but
The pimp confirmed that he had supplied young girls to the Norwegian.

The girl, on the other hand, identified the Filipina and the foreigner as the ones who picked up Pique while they were heading home from school last week.

The police then took the couple to the CPPO headquarters where classmates and friends of Pigue came to identify the two suspects.

The Pimp though said this interaction took place on the 7th in the afternoon when the norwiegen was in the air befor arriving in Cebu oops:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[Josieyam65]

The pimp’s claim was later proven false. Berger arrived in Cebu a full hour and 40 minutes after he was supposedly in Colon.
He wasn’t included as a witness. Maybe he was just after the reward.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/did-police-get-right-couple

[keithAngel]

Based on whats been released so far and the total absence of care in handling the "witnesses" and investigating the alibi ,s this looks like another complete fit up and of course if it was a Brit bugger all help from the embassy at least the Norweigans are putting some pressure on:furious3:

[fred]

this looks like another complete fit up and of course if it was a Brit bugger all help from the embassy at least the Norweigans are putting some pressure on

Totally agree Steve. The UK embassy are a bunch of tossers these days. I wish I was a Norwegian!

[keithAngel]

Totally agree Steve. The UK embassy are a bunch of tossers these days. I wish I was a Norwegian!

Thanks um ?Brian:icon_lol:

[joebloggs]

Based on whats been released so far and the total absence of care in handling the "witnesses" and investigating the alibi ,s this looks like another complete fit up and of course if it was a Brit bugger all help from the embassy at least the Norweigans are putting some pressure on:furious3:

so how could a pimp and 3 kids id them :angry: this needs investigating..

what did the cops do, round up any whiteys they could find in an Id parade ? you cant see many volunteering :cwm24:, or were there just this guy and his g/f ???

[keithAngel]

What they did was ciculate an artists impression based on the 3 kids then when the couple were off to Hong Kong for Valentines on a round trip the imigration thought they might fit "being a Long nose with a Pinoy" wrong hair colour and no tatoos no worries

Then the plod drove to the airport with one of the kids and said identify them which he obligingly did case solved:Erm:

[joebloggs]

pinoy justice :NoNo:

[purple]

this is very very bad...I can only pray for the poor little girl.

[fred]

this is very very bad...I can only pray for the poor little girl.
First thing I will prey for is that the little girl and her family receive Justice..
The way the police are handling this case,it l ooks pretty doubtful.
Fortunately the NBI might have different ideas and seem at present to be doing a good job...However..From the wasted time the PNP have spent on trying to implicate this Norwegian man and his fiance it looks like the NBI`s investigation could be severely compromised..
Time will tell..
In the mean time I will be double checking that my kids will not be let out by security guards till I pick them up!!
Onli in di Pilipins!!

[Sim11UK]

Another scary dose of reality, in the Philippine justice system...Just get a conviction, not to worry if it's the wrong person, case closed...next.

No justice for any party. :NoNo:

[keithAngel]

This is very big news here in cebu the expats are every thing from outraged to terrified about the way its being handled

Particularly good was one of the bosses saying that their documentary alibi including testimony from the norweigan language school the resturant and there return captured on cctv at the waterfront hotel didnt give any credence compared to three child eyewitness

Speculation is that you could have been having dinner with the chief of police here at the time of the offence and you would still be charged:cwm23:

[scott&ligaya]

this is very scary for any foriegner living in the Phils, lazy and corrupt policemen and and a complte disregard for human rights and logic for that matter. Note to self.. make sure we continue to invite the mayors and the chief of polices wives to my mahals cosmetic parties. In Puerto Pirncesa every six months or so an expat gets hauled up on some trumped up charge including rape!!! Just need to stay away from any kind of situation which may be open to interpretation as it were.. and get to know the local worthies.. very important. My son is just three.. in fact today Happy birthday Joshua!!! and he attends a local Montessori nursery, he has a full ID badge with pics on the back of who can collect him, they are very strict and will not let him out if you are not on there. Since gong there my wife has a great group of local ladies (other mums) who are very well connected and we do feel safer if anything untoward should happen.

Back to this case, I fear that the real killers will not be found but hopefully in the light of the NBI evidence and even the Governer seems keen to get at the truth (big credit toi her) I am sure the Norwegian and his Filipina partner willl be freed.

[keithAngel]

She was equaly keen earlier in the week to be seen with the "witnesses":NoNo:

[David House]

Our house in Cebu is about 500 metres away from the school where Ella Joy was abducted. We drive past every day and have been closely following this story. Last week we were in both the Minglanilla and Talisay police stations making reports on suspicious activities we had witnessed, which may, or may not be, related.

Most of the ex pats living here knew they had held the wrong man immediately, as he has a cast iron alibi. He is still being held, after a spell in hospital, interventions by the Governor and a failed writ to get him released. He may be offered bail, but intends to refuse as he has committed no crime. It is now generally accepted that he will be released on Wednesday.

The problem is that in the meantime there appears to be very little activity going on to try to find the actual killers, who by now are probably half a world away. Many local people continue to believe that the police have done a great job in finding the killers so quickly and are going to be very angry when they are released on what most will feel is a "technicality". When you know that 300,000 pesos reward money is on offer to those who help secure a conviction you can understand why some kids might be encouraged to point their fingers!

Many of us are now feeling more than a little nervous as well as distressed that the little girl will not receive justice.

There are lessons for anyone either living or visiting the Philippines. You really cannot expect the same standards of justice here and need to watch your back all the time.

[fred]

You need to be worried..Personally I would not want to be in Cebu when they are released and it all kicks off..:xxgrinning--00xx3:
Having said that I hear there was a a peaceful vigil outside the prison by concerned locals??
what was that about??

[keithAngel]

For this type of crime I find it strange and self defeating to offer rewards its not the same as an armed robbery and evidently leads to less than reliable reports The police dont appear capable to follow up the obvious things to do in this investigation if thats the right adjective:Erm: