Lozano camp wants murder raps vs Dominguez bros

The suspects in the twin killings of car seller Emerson Lozano and his driver Ernani Sencil should be slapped with murder charges and not just homicide, according to the Emerson's father. Lawyer Oliver Lozano said the Department of Justice (DOJ) should not have downgraded the offenses to be filed against six suspects in the carjack-slay incident, including Roger and Raymond Dominguez – supposed gang leaders. Oliver, a former Marcos lawyer, was referring to a 17-page resolution by the Justice Department, in which "probable cause" was found to file car-theft charges against the six. But instead of murder, as originally requested by the victim's family in their complaint, homicide should be lodged against the suspects, according to the DOJ resolution. In a text message, Lozano cited Article 248, Paragraph 6 of the Revised Penal Code to stress that murder charges should be filed in court against the suspects. “If the killing is with cruelty, by deliberately and inhumanly augmenting the suffering of the victim, or outraging or scoffing at his person or corpse, that is murder," insisted Oliver, adding that he would be formally asking the DOJ to reconsider its resolution. Emerson and Ernani were last seen alive on January 12 while meeting a prospective buyer of a Kia Carnival van in Quezon City. Ernani's charred body was found the next day in Tarlac province while Emerson's was found two days later in Pampanga. In its resolution, the DOJ said "Nothing on record would show how Emerson and Ernani were actually killed," and that a lesser offense of car theft with multiple homicide should be filed. "But murder should (not) be downgraded to homicide to avoid the perception that there is dough in downgrading," Oliver said. Other indicted suspects were Jayson Miranda, Roland Talban, Napoleon Salamat and one alias Marlon. A week later the discovery of Emerson and Sencil's bodies, the charred remains of another car theft victim, Venson Evangelista, were found in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija. Another suspect, Alfred Mendiola, who admitted being the poseur buyer of the SUV that Evangelista was selling at the time he was abducted, later tried applying as a state witness. Car theft gang leader Raymond Dominguez surrendered to police, and his brother and co-leader, Roger, was arrested due to a traffic violation in Quezon City. — LBG, GMA News