The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Tuesday, May 25, 2010 

O ne of two Ecuadorian immigrants accused of murdering Filipino housekeeper Jocelyn Dulnuan managed a grin during a police investigation, enraging the victim's family and prompting a police warning. While he denies having a hand in the gruesome slaying, his testimony points to his countrymate as the killer. Dulnuan's family is furious and so are the townspeople in Ifugao province in the Philippines where the Dulnuans come from.

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Murder Suspect's Grin Enrages Family of Filipina Housekeeper at Trial

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

and Asian-American Journalists Association (AAJA)

T ORONTO - A briefly-smiling accused in the brutal killing of a Filipino housekeeper drew anger from the victim's anguished family on Tuesday (May 25, 2010) at the resumption of the trial in the suburb of Brampton.

"Kung nandito sila, sugod sila sa korte," (if they were here, they would storm the courthouse), says Jocelyn Dulnuan's aunt Juana, referring to her townmates in Hingyon, Ifugao in the Philippines, indicating they would exact revenge on Ecuadorian immigrants Fabian Loayza-Penaloza and Cristian Figueroa who stand accused in the murder of the 27-year-old housekeeper.

"Nang makita nila ang bangkay ni Jocelyn, walang umiiyak, puro sila galit," (when they saw her body, nobody cried, all of them are furious), claims Juana, whose two daughters -- Jocelyn and Fe -- are also attending the hearing. They refused to give their last names.

The family is complaining about the slow progress in the trial at the chamber of Mr. Justice John Sproat of the Superior Court in Brampton.

"Mabagal ang trial," (the trial is slow) says the victim's namesake and cousin Jocelyn. "Makikita naman na sila ang pumatay" (we can see that they're the ones who killed her), she added.

It was Loayza-Penaloza's smirk that also elicited a warning from the police investigator. He had asked him: "Did you kill Jocelyn?" Instead of responding, he managed a grin, prompting the investigator to say ""it's not funny".

"That's absolutely ludicrous," the investigator added as Loayza-Penaloza continued to deny any hand in the slaying of Jocelyn in October 2007. The Filipina was housekeeper of a huge mansion for the Indian couple Vasdev and Jaya Chanchlani in the nearby city of Mississauga, which the two Ecuadorians had planned to rob.

Jocelyn was bound, then strangled with a copper wire.

From his testimony, preserved in several DVDs and played in court, Loayza-Penaloza impliedly pointed to his countrymate, Cristian Figueroa, as Jocelyn's killer. He claimed he wasn't present when he slew her.

"I don't know how she died. Cristian never mentioned that to me,"  Loayza-Penaloza explained.

As the DVD played out, Jocelyn's mother Godeliva Dulnuan, and a younger sister, Joyce Dulnuan glued their eyes on the closed-circuit television. Sisters Joyce and Fe bowed their heads, suppressing tears. Their mother, Godeliva's sister, stared at the TV.

Whenever Loayza-Penaloza answered the investigator, the family would swing their heads in disbelief. They didn't realize early on that the two men in black coat seated just in front of them in a caged glass and guarded by two policemen were the suspects.

The trial is expected  to last during the entire week. # # #