‘Nida may have known assailants’

Slain veteran actress Nida Blanca may have known her attackers, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced yesterday.

According to NBI chief medico-legal officer Dr. Maximo Reyes, there were indications that Blanca, Dorothy Jones in real life, did not struggle when she was attacked early Wednesday morning and might even have had a snack with her assailants.

At the same time, NBI sources said "suspects have been identified" and probers are focusing on at least three possible motives for the grisly killing. They refused to divulge details.

"She was wearing a long-sleeved blouse. The buttons were all intact indicating the absence of a struggle. This could also mean that she probably knew her attackers," Reyes said.

The NBI coroner said Blanca, a director of the Movies and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), may also have had a midnight meal on Wednesday, seven to eight hours before she was found beaten and repeatedly stabbed at the sixth-floor parking lot of the Atlanta Centre along Annapolis St. in Greenhills, San Juan.

"There was also digested food that was not yet absorbed by her system. This may mean she could have eaten between 12 midnight and 1 a.m. of Wednesday," Reyes said.

Reyes also revised initial estimates on Blanca’s time of death, which the Philippine National Police (PNP) estimated at around 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. of Wednesday.

"There was no post-mortem rigidity, meaning she had only been dead between four and six hours before she was found (at about 8 a.m.). had there been timely medical assistance she could have been saved because of the shallowness of the stab wounds," said Reyes.

Reyes, however, concurred with police findings that Blanca had more than one attacker, one of whom may have been a woman, who used different knives and that the attackers were "very angry and sadistic."

"Her attackers appeared to be very angry and sadistic. There were a multiplicity of knife wounds... Based on the shallowness of the stab wounds, there is the possibility that some of the attackers were women," the coroner added.

Blanca, 65, sustained five stab wounds in the left cheek, five in the left armpit, two at the back and one below the left ear, Reyes said, adding that fatal blows were those that punctured the actress’ jugular vein and the one that pierced her larynx.

Reyes clarified that Blanca was not bound, did not sustain stab wounds on her arms, and was not bludgeoned.

She, however, had a hematoma on her left eye, indicating that she was punched and may even have been unconscious when she was stabbed.

At Camp Crame, police are still clueless as to the motive of the killing and "Task Force Marsha" which was formed by PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza to spearhead the police investigation.

But PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Nestorio Gualberto, Task Force Marsha chief, said they are looking at all possible motives for the crime, including robbery, drugs and business rivalry.

The police have established that Blanca left her MTRCB office at the Atlanta Centre’s 33rd floor at around 5 p.m. of Tuesday.

She boarded the elevator, which stopped at the 32nd floor to pick up some MTRCB personnel, and got off at the sixth floor where she was likely attacked, Gualberto said.

Police said she was likely punched in face, causing her black left eye, and rendering her partially or fully unconscious. They said she was then brought inside her car where she was repeatedly stabbed.

Gualberto said they have identified 10 possible witnesses but only four have so far given their sworn statements.

Police are also set to interview several persons to gather more information on the case, including Blanca’s driver Antonio Borja, who also attended the actress’ wake.

Police sources said they received a tip that Borja should be a suspect in the crime because Blanca supposedly turned down his plea to borrow money to pay off piling debts.

Borja admitted that he had told the actress about his pawned properties but denied that he tried to borrow money from her.

"I can’t do that to her. She was too kind to me," Borja told probers during Blanca’s wake but admitted that only his family could attest he was at home when the actress was killed.

Probers also noted that Borja had a two-inch scratch mark on his nose and smaller wounds on both arms.

Police also recovered a bloodied length of telephone wire atop an air vent at the sixth-floor parking lot

Also up for questioning are several construction workers who were working in some units of the building but police clarified that they are only searching for possible witnesses to the crime.

The PNP is also looking into security lapses at the building to determine why it took 12 hours before the building security reported that Blanca was missing on Tuesday.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina noted that the building security detail could have inspected the parking lot as soon as she was reported missing and could have saved her life since forensic experts said she probably died at around dawn Wednesday.

The family of Blanca is still awaiting the actress’ only daughter Kaye, who will decide when Blanca will be cremated, according to Blanca’s husband Rod Lauren Strunk, also a former actor who uses the screen name Rod Lauren.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo vowed yesterday to bring to justice the murderers of multi-awarded actress Nida Blanca as probers follow new leads in the brutal killing.

"We should really try to get to the bottom of this and the offenders will be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said the President, who personally relayed leads she received at the wake of the slain actress at the White Plains chapel in Quezon City.

Mrs. Arroyo said she gathered the leads during "casual conversations" at Blanca’s wake late Wednesday and immediately summoned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Leandro Mendoza to interview the people who gave the leads.

"Those responsible for this dastardly crime will be punished to the fullest extent of the law," the President vowed. - With Non Alquitran, Perseus Echeminada and Marichu Villanueva