The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Thursday, May 20, 2010 

T he finger-pointing has begun in the trial of two Ecuadorian immigrants accused of murdering Filipino housekeeper Jocelyn Dulnuan. The police, meanwhile, disclosed that DNA of one of the two accused had been found under the fingernails of the victim. Dulnuan's mother planed in from Hong Kong Thursday and was promptly shielded from the media. At least two Filipino caregiver advocates have shown support for the aggrieved family. Dulnuan's death by strangulation has galvanized the Filipino community in Toronto.

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MURDER BY STRANGULATION

Finger-Pointing by Suspects in Slaying of Filipino Housekeeper

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

and Asian-American Journalists Association (AAJA)

Editor’s Note: Readers may want to visit Romy Marquez’s blog at http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/.  He is just starting this blog and he has still to learn a lot. Critiques are welcomed.

T ORONTO, Canada - A second accused in the grisly slaying of a Filipino housekeeper denied responsibility for her death but refused to say who did it, saying he was afraid for his family, the Superior Court in suburban Brampton heard on Thursday (May 20, 2010).

The testimony followed a police revelation that the DNA of the other accused, Cristian Figueroa, had been found in the victim's fingernails.

Ecuadorian immigrants Fabian Loayza-Penaloza and Cristian Figueroa are held in jail on murder charges for the killing in October 2007 of Jocelyn Dulnuan, a 27-year-old native of Hingyon, Ifugao in the Philippines, who worked as housekeeper for an Indian couple in the nearby city of Mississauga.

Dulnuan's mother, Godeliva Dulnuan, and a younger sister, Joyce Dulnuan, arrived at the courthouse early in the afternoon, shortly after the trial at the sala of Mr. Justice John Sproat went on a luncheon recess.

Government officials shielded the older Dulnuan, who planed in from Hong Kong, from the media. A request for an interview by this reporter had been firmly denied.

L oayza-Penaloza has repeatedly professed his innocence during the police interrogation but would not name who between him and Figueroa slew Dulnuan by strangling her with copper wire.

Figueroa, meanwhile, said "it was impossible" that his DNA would be found on Dulnuan, in effect denying he had a hand in her murder.

CD copies of the interrogation was played on three closed circuit television inside the courtroom as part of the trial that began early this week.

Dulnuan apparently stood in the way of the two Ecuadorians who robbed the huge 30,000-square-foot mansion that she had been hired to keep for the couple Vasdev and Jaya Chanchlani. Her employers were out at the time of the robbery-slaying.

Both men knew the mansion quite well, having worked there for some time. They also knew that there were no security cameras. The alarm system was not working either.

"Who's reponsible for her death?" the police interrogator hammered him. In between questions, Loayza-Penaloza would remain pensive, then sneezed and sobbed, his head bowed.

"I am innocent," he barked. "Everybody makes mistakes. I made mistakes. I want to make sure my family will be okay," he said, insisting he wanted to talk to a lawyer before answering all the questions

The interrogator then asked him again and again: "Who's responsible for her death? Was it Cristian (Figueroa)?"

"If he's responsible, I don't know what happens to me," Loayza-Penaloza replied. He had been expressing fears, which he refused to explain.

Dulnuan's murder has galvanized the Filipino community in Toronto where there is a large presence of Filipino caregivers and nannies.

Among those who have been religiously attending the hearings were Imie Belanger, a cousin-in-law of Dulnuan and an advocate for caregivers, and Coco Diaz, a volunteer counsellor at Intercede, who also does her advocacy. The Philippine Consulate General has also a representative, John Reandino, to monitor the developments. # # #

This Currents & Breaking News is sent by Romeo P. Marquez, editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no. 7, May 20, 2010.