No results yet from Sydney murder probe

The Australian Embassy in Manila said yesterday the police in Sydney have yet to reach a conclusion in the case of a murdered Filipino family, denying the killers have already been identified.

"We have been advised by the police, who are investigating the tragic deaths of the Gonzales family, that an investigation is ongoing. The task force has yet to arrive at a conclusion," a statement from the embassy said.

Teodoro Gonzales, 46, was found stabbed to death by his son Sef, 20, when he returned to the family’s home in the suburb of North Ryde in Sydney before midnight of July 10.

The body of his mother, Mary Josephine Loiva, 43, was found in the living room of the two-story home while that of his 18-year-old sister Clodine was discovered in an upstairs bedroom, their throats cut.

The family from Baguio City migrated to Australia after they lost their hotel business after the July 16, 1990 killer quake. The father was a lawyer specializing in immigration cases.

Sources close to the police investigation said a racial slur was daubed on a wall close to one of the bodies but detectives still have not established a motive for the killings.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which has sent a special investigator to Australia, said last week that the Sydney police have solved the murder and that suspected killers will be presented to media.

Embassy officials, however, said no official report has been released.

"The police are on the case and receiving good cooperation from the public, including members of the Gonzales family," they said.

In Baguio City, relatives of the Gonzaleses are keeping mum on recent reports that Sef was a suspect in the killings.

"We have to wait for the official report from Australian authorities," said Earlindo Tesoro, brother-in-law of the slain lawyer.

The other day, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said the son may have killed his parents and sister, based on an initial investigation report by the NBI.

Tesoro, the family’s spokesman in the Philippines, said they are shying away from public appearances because of the stigma of speculation.

He denounced reports portraying the slain father as a lawyer with a bad reputation,

"Teddy is the victim here and such irresponsible reports make him a double victim," Tesoro said. "It is a sad thing that even friends of the family are beginning to ask questions because of speculation." – With Artemio Dumlao