New developments have made the cases of slain 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman more complicated but there are said to be two new witnesses that could provide more clarity.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said today that a witness who saw Arnaiz enter a police car has come forward.
“He left hand-written notes in the office describing Carl’s appearance — they even made eye contact — he said [Arnaiz] was inside the police vehicle,” Lacson told reporters.
The senator also assured that the new witness’ account is valid.
“He saw where [Arnaiz] was hit in the head, which is consistent with the autopsy report, so we don’t doubt that he is a true witness,” he said.
The witness is 21 years old but remains anonymous.
The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) also said today that they have a new witness for the case. In a radio interview on DZMM, PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said that their witness saw the alleged killing by the police.
She said that the witness also confirmed that there were two people in police custody.
Both Arnaiz and Reynaldo disappeared on Aug. 17. Their families said that the two left their homes to buy midnight snacks.
Yesterday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) released DNA findings saying that the body found in a morgue in Nueva Ecija last Tuesday was not Reynaldo.
Acosta questioned these findings and said the PNP’s DNA testing was done illegally.
“It was illegal for them to get DNA samples. There was no consent from PAO,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve seen DNA [results] that were instant.”
She said the process usually takes longer said how one case even needed to send samples to Europe.
Reynaldo’s family insists that the body they positively identified in the morgue is indeed their son.
The taxi driver that said he was held-up by Arnaiz — an incident that led Arnaiz to an alleged shootout with the police — also said yesterday that the shootout was “scripted.”
In the radio interview, Acosta said she believes it was scripted but still does not buy that Arnaiz mugged the driver. “The killing happened before the hold-up,” she said.
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