Trial begins for Pinay's murder in California

A Los Angeles jury has started hearing the 2007 murder of a 60-year-old Filipina, also known as “Lomita Black Widow," after her two husbands died in suspiciously similar circumstances. A report on California news site Daily Breeze said the Torrance Superior Court under Judge James Brandlin heard on Feb. 11 the testimony of a detective who earlier interviewed suspect Fernando Romero about his alleged involvement in the death of Sonia Rios-Risken. Romero, 27, and the victim’s great-nephew, 31-year-old Eric Delacruz, are facing murder charges for allegedly killing Rios-Risken, who was also the subject of an investigation when she was killed for the unsolved deaths of her two husbands, 19 years apart, in the Philippines. A separate report on the news site Asian Journal said Rios-Risken was suspected of masterminding the killings of her two husbands, earning her the infamous black widow nickname. The husbands’ deaths had been the subject of newspaper stories and popular TV shows in the US like CBS’ “48 Hours." For the hearing on Rios-Risken’s murder, Brandlin had to narrow some 80 potential jurors to just 12 who have never heard about her. In 2006, Larry Risken, Rios-Risken’s second husband, was shot in the head during a visit to his wife’s family in Cavite. Rios-Risken did not join him in the trip. During the visit, Risken brought a young girl — the cousin of a girl he had wanted to adopt — to a hospital for an eye treatment. As he was pulling out of the hospital’s parking lot, one of the two suspects stood beside his car and shot him point-blank, before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle. No suspects were arrested, and Risken’s body was immediately cremated. Risken, who was a retired Navy commander and a teacher, had signified that he wanted to divorce his wife. Nineteen years before Risken was killed, Rios-Risken’s first husband, retired US Marine Earl John Bourdeau, died under similar circumstances. He was found shot to death inside his wife’s family home in Cavite. Rios-Risken also did not join her husband in the trip, and Bourdeau had also planned on divorcing her. Police arrested five, including three of Rios-Risken’s brothers, in what was believed as a robbery attempt. All were subsequently released and the charges against them were dropped. Like Risken’s, Bourdeau’s remains were immediately cremated. In 2007, a year after Risken’s death, a man entered Rios-Risken’s hair salon and shot her but missed. The suspect vowed to come back and a week later, Rios-Risken was found dead inside her Lomita home. According to the Asian Journal article, investigators believe Delacruz plotted with Romero to kill the 60-year-old stylist for financial gain. The trial is expected to be concluded by the end of next week. — KBK, GMA News