2 vital witnesses in Nida slay found

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Police investigators hinted yesterday that they have come across two vital witnesses with information that could lead to the solution of the murder of multi-awarded actress Nida Blanca.

This developed as forensic experts of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they would go back to the crime scene in the hope of finding clues that might have been overlooked in the initial search of the place.

Director Nestorio Gualberto, head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said "there is now light at the end of the tunnel" in their probe.

PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza has created "Task Force Marsha" composed of crack operatives in an attempt to bring an early solution to the Nov. 6 murder.

"We can say that our witnesses have given us good leads that will uncover the motive for the crime and establish the identities of the suspects," the investigators said.

Police operatives mobilized to speed up solution of the Blanca slaying said they have so far questioned 18 people, including the victim’s close friends and certain relatives.

Among those invited for questioning were Candelaria "Dinding" Tantoco, a personal aide of Blanca; Noel de la Paz, a distant cousin; and a certain Eden.

One of the witnesses, whose name was not disclosed, told the investigators he saw Blanca at the Casino Filipino on the night of the murder.

A security personnel of the casino confirmed the presence of the late actress in the place, as well as a telephone conversation with De la Paz, who inquired if she was there.

A security video footage of the casino showed Blanca – Dorothy Jones in real life – playing Chinese poker with two ladies and an elderly companion. Probers placed the time at about 10 p.m.

This also confirmed earlier theories that Blanca went out of the Atlanta Center building in Greenhills, San Juan on Tuesday night where she reported earlier in the day for work at office of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

She was found dead early the following morning on the back seat of her green Nissan Sentra car parked at the sixth floor of the Atlanta Center. The body sustained 13 stabbed wounds, mostly superficial.

Tantoco, who admitted driving Blanca to the casino every time she wanted to gamble, claimed she was not with the victim on the night she was killed.

"I was home the whole (day) of Nov. 6," Tantoco told Senior Superintendent Jesus Versoza, chief investigator of the task force.

After several hours of questioning, the police freed Tantoco.

"Everybody is still a suspect in this crime," Versoza stressed, but added that they are nearing solution of the case with his men following a hot lead.

Meanwhile, NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said forensic experts of the agency would look for additional evidence that could be subjected to DNA tests that could lead to identification of the suspects.

NBI investigators believe that the victim knew her attackers. – Jaime Laude, Mike Frialde