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Alleged wife killer ‘probably’ guilty of murder
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Posted on Aug 18 2004
The Superior Court yesterday upheld that there is probable cause to believe that Agilino Passiano Elyeisar—the man accused of killing his common-law wife—is probably guilty of murder.
Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama issued the ruling after a preliminary hearing on the second-degree murder case against Elyeisar, who was charged for assaulting Vicky Ann Maratita Igitol at their Kagman residence last March. Igitol died at the hospital after several weeks of confinement.
During the hearing, Dr. Aurelio Espinola, the pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Igitol’s body, testified in court that the woman died due to neck bone injury.
“I noticed that the spinal cord was also damaged,” Espinola said. The back of the neck bone sustained fractures, he said. The pathologist added, however, that there was no external injury on the woman’s body.
Autopsy also showed that the woman had fluid in the chest cavity, an indication that she suffered from pneumonia infection.
Based on the woman’s injuries, Espinola dismissed the possibility that they were sustained due to a fall. He also said the victim had neither head injury, nor had she skull fracture and bruises on the brain. “There was no evidence of a blow,” the doctor testified.
Espinola explained that the neck bone injury resulted from two possibilities: the woman might have been pushed from behind, or she might have been shaken vigorously if attacked in front.
The doctor said the former likely happened in the incident. “She was pushed from behind rather than being shaken,” he said.
The killing of Igitol, who used to work at the Office of Youth Affairs, sparked a candlelight vigil on Saipan to condemn the evils of domestic violence.
