Gurro v. People

 

Gurro v. People

G.R. No. 224562

September 18, 2019

FACTS:

                The RTC and CA convicted Excel Gurro y Maga and Wennie Idian y Jamindang for the crime of Kidnapping with Homicide. At around 5pm Bernard, Helen’s brother received a text message saying that they have her children and that they should not call the cops. They should give 3M instead of killing her children.

                At around 5pm, Arnel again received a text message from the kidnappers saying that AAA will be dropped off in Cubao, QC. However AAA was never released. Arnel and his family learned that AAA had been killed on August 3, 2008. They were instructed to go to a funeral parlor in Laguna to identify her body.

ISSUE:

                Whether or not Wennie and Excel are guilty.

HELD:

                Yes. Wennie’s suspicious acts show her complicity to the crime. To begin with, she was the las person seen with AAA. She and AAA went outside of the house, but the former returned home alone. AAA went missing thereafter. Wennie’s staunch efforts at protecting Joel were indeed questionable. It was certainly suspicious why Wennie constantly misled Patrick as to Joel’s true cp number. 1^st she deleted all of the messages then she deleted all of Patrick’s contacts. Not content, Wennie even misled Patrick, by deliberately giving a wrong number. All of these suspicious deeds cast doubt unto Wennie’s innocence.

                Art. 19 of the RPC provides that those who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having participated therein, either as principals or accomplices, take part subsequent to its commission in any of the ff manners: 1.) by profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime. 2.) by concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery. 3.) by harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principals of the crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.

                There was no showing that Excel actually cooperated or assisted in kidnapping AAA and detaining the latter. At best, Excel’s participation in the incident was limited to acts committed after the abduction was already consummated. Particularly, Excel retrieved the ransom money from Metrobank and thereafter immediately forwarded the same to Joel, through four money transfer transactions two hours after Arnel wired the money to the kidnappers.