The three men arrested for the death of a flight attendant in the Philippines were released from custody on Wednesday, while prosecutors criticized the lack of evidence that he had been raped or murdered.
The trio – the only 11 detainees charged with the death of Christine Angelica Dacera after a New Year’s Eve party at their hotel – were released as prosecutors returned the case to the city of Makati, which ‘had prematurely considered a’ resolved case, ‘CNN said.
Prosecutors insisted that “the evidence presented so far is insufficient to establish that she was sexually assaulted or raped” and, if so, which of the group that was partying with her were responsible, and many of the 11 say they are gay.
They also insisted that even if the 23-year-old Filipino assistant had been raped, police had not yet shown that she caused her death after she was found unconscious in the empty bathtub of her room on January 1. .
Attorney General Benedicto Malcontento gave police until Jan. 13 to present stronger evidence, asking for DNA and toxicology results.
An initial autopsy suggested Dacera died of “aortic aneurysm rupture” and made no mention of seminal fluids, CNN said.
The sentence allowed John Pascual Dela Serna III, Rommel Galido and John Paul Halili to walk free on Wednesday.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Halil told CNN through tears. Galido said the dead assistant was “like a brother to me,” insisting, “I love him very much.”
The other eight suspects who had partyed with them had not yet been picked up before Wednesday’s sentencing. All 11 faced a provisional charge of rape with homicide after the local police chief said everyone present was responsible for not protecting Dacera, saying an “act of one is an act of all.”
At least one of the suspects mentioned, Gregorio de Guzman, son of the well-known Filipino singer Claire dela Fuente, insisted that most of the men there were gay.
“How did it become a rape? I’m gay. I’ve never had sex with any woman in my life, ”Guzman told ABS-CBN TV, saying up to eight of the 11 were“ probably gay like us ”.
He insisted he only remembered that Dacera was “happy” at the party and did CPR the next morning after discovering her unconscious in the bathtub of his room at the City Garden Grand Hotel.
Dacera was a flight attendant for Philippine Airlines (PAL) Express, which he said “mourns the tragic death.”