An expert witness on Thursday gave a testimony in the Ampatuan multiple murder trial that could finally explain why authorities initially concluded that some victims were beheaded – which was later proven untrue.
Dr. Ricardo Rodaje, a medico-legal expert from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), told Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC RTC) that almost the entire skull of victim Concepcion "Connie" Brizuela was already missing when he autopsied her remains.
Brizuela was a human rights lawyer who was with the electoral convoy of the Mangudadatu group that was on its way to Shariff Aguak, capital town of Maguindanao province, to file the certificate of candidacy of then Buluan vice mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu.
Rodaje said Brizuela's skull was blown off due to the impact of the bullet that hit her right ear and exited the back of her head. As a result, all that was left of the victim's head was her "facial skin," he said.
"I could no longer measure the exit wound because there was no definite border because it was shattered," Rodaje said.
Private prosecutor Prima Jesusa Quinsayas, legal counsel for the families of some of the massacre victims, told reporters after the hearing that the appearance of Brizuela's corpse could have led authorities who responded to the crime site to conclude that some of the victims were beheaded.
"Kaya akala siguro ng mga nag-recover ng katawan ay pinugutan daw, kasi wala na silang nakitang bungo. Hair na lang," she said. (That probably explains why the retrieval team thought some bodies were beheaded, because they didn't see any skull, just hair.)
Authorities and even families of the victims later clarified that no victim was beheaded in the gruesome November 23, 2009 killing that left 57 people dead and one missing body, also presumed dead.
Aside from the fatal gunshot wound on her head, Brizuela also sustained three other wounds.
Rodaje said he could tell that the wounds were caused by a high-powered firearm because of the "devastating effects of the wounds."
He said the bullets that hit Brizuela's torso "perforated her right lung and damaged her fourth rib," causing massive bleeding.
Rodaje also autopsied the body of Mamutabay Mangudadatu, aunt of Esmael, who also lost his wife and sisters in the massacre.
Mamutabay sustained nine gunshot wounds grouped together on her torso. Measured together, the cluster of gunshot wounds measures 12 cm by 11 cm and are the size of a "big serving plate."
Rodaje had already testified in a previous hearing early last year, when he told Solis-Reyes that Esmael's wife Genalin Mangudadatu, the remains of whom he also autopsied, could have suffered "the most painful death" because of the multiple gunshot wounds she sustained.—JV
