foreign [Music] early in the morning on June 30th 1991 Estrellita fisconde a stay-at-home mother and her daughters Carmella and Jennifer were brutally stabbed to death at their home on 80 Vinson Street BF homes paranaque City and the Philippine capital of Manila these killings known as the visconda massacre was dubbed the trial of the century not just because of the horrific crime but also because of the corruption and miscarriage Justice that enveloped the entire investigation until the case closed after almost two decades after adding to the sensationalized tragedy was the alleged involvement of the sons of rich and influential families the final decision by the Supreme Court to acquit the accused after 15 years behind bars remains Rife with controversy until today the public still has differing opinions on the case today we take a look at the visconde massacre on that morning of June 30th which was a Sunday estrellita's nephew Rodell was called to the home at BF homes an Executive Village composed of middle and upper class households to identify the bodies of the victims he recounted the harrowing experience of counting 18 stab wounds on his seven-year-old cousin Jennifer's Body according to Rodell most of the wounds were on her right chest and two on her back large defense runes were seen on both her arms which indicated she fought back nineteen-year-old Carmela meanwhile was violated before her death she was stabbed nine times in the chest five of them were so deep that they penetrated her back their mother estralita suffered 13 stab wounds Rodell also recalled seeing his cousin Carmela still gagged with a pillowcase in her mouth while his aunt and little cousin's bloodied bodies were on the bed two days after the murders lauro visconde the head of the family returned from the United States where he worked as a cook at first he would spare the details of what happened right after the burial he learned of the Gory details of his family's death on the news he fainted and because of his grief he even tried to take his own life the investigation into the case meanwhile was fraught with problems there was corruption and controversy from the start the first local policemen to respond to the crime scene at this exclusive gated community where some of the country's most prominent families lived was Gerardo bjon fingerprints and photographs were taken according to Beyond he permitted the cleanup of the scene and burned the bloodied clothes and bed sheets because of the unbearable stench rodel visconde recalled how Bion picked up the items to be burned as a result of the policeman's actions pertinent evidence that would prove to be vital for the outcome of the case was destroyed the media urged the police to fast-track the investigation police presented their first set of suspects they were six house burglars from the barroso gang who were known to break into luxury suburban homes they were arrested when they confessed to the crime but the visconda family was suspicious about the robbery motive according to them appliances and the keys to the car were all left behind but investigators insisted that jewelry was stolen and they even traced pawn shops they were sold to upon the burglar's confession the case was considered closed the family continued to be skeptical as the burglar story didn't match up with the facts of the case Rodell said he heard the burglar saying they moved the victim's bodies to the second floor of the house after the murder but the house was a bungalow that didn't have a second floor rodel also heard them say that they were chased by the family stock the visconde household didn't have one their confession also included a struggle in the living room where they ended up stabbing Estrellita which contradicts the evidence since there were no blood stains found in the living room the family speculated that they fabricated their confession this was proven when the burglars were presented to the media they admitted to falsely confessing to the crime they said they were tortured and abused by the police they proved this by showing the bruises and cuts on their bodies police could not link them to the crime due to a lack of sufficient evidence they were let go the second set of suspects was a group that was led by alleged Mastermind engineer Danilo Aguas whose fingerprints were supposedly identified on The house's garage lights again there was a lack of evidence linking them to the crime officers then looked into the background of the family it came up with nothing the lead investigator proposed that no one in their right mind would commit such a crime unless it was linked to drugs cocaine and crystal meth were very popular among addicts at the time police took a look at the drug scene at BF homes where kids from Rich families had the means to acquire such illegal substances they probe the Alabang boys they were known to have one thing in common basketball and drugs amid this the bereave family was becoming more suspicious of how the investigation was going they suspected something bigger was at play perhaps even a cover-up to conceal the true perpetrators their suspicions were confirmed when one of the investigators came forward and stated that he was allegedly threatened to leave their name out of the investigation by Freddie Webb the congressman of paranaque City at the time of the crime and the father of Hubert Webb the investigator said he was also ordered by a former General whose relative was one of the suspects to Halt the investigation and hand over all the evidence to him but with no evidence eyewitnesses or confessions the case did not make any progress the fasconda massacre remained unsold for almost four years until an eyewitness came forward Jessica Alfaro a self-confessed former drug addict shed light on the case on April 28 1995. Alfaro implicated the children of wealthy and prominent families known as the Alabang boys Alabang is an area south of Manila that is popular among families that are well off the suspects included Hubert Webb who we mentioned earlier he's the son of Freddie Webb an actor former basketball player Congressman of the city where the crime was committed and later senator Hubert was allegedly The Mastermind of the crime Jessica also detailed the involvement of policeman Gerardo pione let's take a look at Jessica's account of the crime she said the night before the murders around 8 30 PM she and her then boyfriend Peter Estrada drove her Mitsubishi Lancer and met up with Hubert and his group at Ayala alaban commercial center to do crystal meth together in the car park Jessica who was 27 years old at the time said she was merely looking for a good time with her boyfriend and his friends she stated that they did not hang out with the group regularly but cross paths once in a while as they had the same drug supplier dong Ventura the son of a wine store owner Hubert apparently asked Jessica and her boyfriend Estrada to check on the visconda residents he was interested in visiting carmilla secretly but her mom was strict as she only allowed her daughter to talk to girls Jessica agreed and followed the other cars to Vinson Street led by philart and Rodriguez in a Mazda pickup while the rest were in a Nissan Patrol Jessica went by the house around 10 pm estralita was there and Carmella had just returned home Carmella told Jessica to come back before midnight and Jessica told this to Hubert the group returned to the Alabama commercial center to do more drugs while they waited Jessica learned that Hubert wanted to court Carmella but she was certain that she already had a boyfriend around 10 30 PM she saw Carmela driving a man and dropping him off on the main road Jessica figured he was Carmela's boyfriend she told this to hoobert and relayed a message from Carmela that she was expecting them around midnight and would leave the gate unlocked they were to flash the car's headlights twice once they arrived Jessica insisted on her sworn statement that the assault was premeditated by Mastermind Hubert because she heard Hubert say right before heading to the visconda residence that they would take turns violating Carmela with a condition that he had to go first around midnight they entered the house through the kitchen as Carmela had left the gate unlocked for them Jessica entered the house followed by Hubert and Ventura while the rest remained outside as Lookouts according to Jessica Carmella was waiting for them in the kitchen Hubert followed Carmella inside the house while she went outside to smoke on her way out she saw lahano and Ventura take a knife from one of the drawers in the kitchen after smoking Jessica went back inside and looked through a slightly open bedroom door where she saw australita and Jennifer slaughtered on the bed while Carmella was still alive she was tied up gagged and crying while Hubert was violating her according to Jessica the suspects killed estralita first before assaulting Carmela Jessica also recounted how Hubert killed Jennifer the youngest daughter in the middle of the chaos Jennifer woke up and tried to help her older sister she jumped on Hubert bit his shoulder and tried to grab his hair and pull down his jacket but she was no match for the grown man angered by this Hubert grabbed the little girl pushed her to the wall and stabbed her several times Jennifer sustained the most stab wounds among the three victims estralita and Jennifer's stabbed bodies were placed on the bed while Carmella was violated on the floor by Hubert lejano and Ventura took turns defiling her and killed her afterwards upon seeing this Jessica said she ran out of the house and back to her car she confessed to being high on drugs but said she was still afraid Jessica said in her statement that Hubert paid a policeman named bjel to take care of the crime scene and Beyond did his best to Tamper and Destroy and conceal evidence the National Bureau of Investigation the functional equivalent of the US FBI in the Philippines used her testimony to charge Hubert and a group of seven men with homicide the court then issued arrest warrants for the suspects six of them surrender to the police while fill art and Ventura were nowhere to be found and remain fugitives to this day Lolita bira the ex-girlfriend of Beyond came forward to recount the details of how the policemen tried to cover up the crime she testified that she was with Beyond on the night before the massacre and that around 2 A.M Jung received a phone call and headed to BF homes when Beyond returned home around 7am Lolita said she saw him washing his hands thoroughly particularly his fingernails which looked like they had dried blood on them he also threw away a handkerchief that had a foul smell he also took a knife covered in aluminum from his drawer and transferred it into a metal cabinet then two Maids who worked for the webs Milla gaviola and erisa Rosales said they saw Hubert at home on the night of the crime Milla who worked as a maid and laundry woman said she took dirty clothes from Hubert's room around 4am she said Hubert was awake wearing only pants and smoking when she was doing the laundry she noticed spots of fresh blood on his clothes she said she was disturbed by this and decided to take a peek at Hubert from the stock room next to his room she added that he was very agitated and kept on pacing back and forth nurisa the other maid remember that she served beverages to Hubert and two of his friends in the night of the killings she said Hubert asked for three glasses of juice this was the last time she saw Hubert she later learned from Hubert's father Freddie that his son was in the U.S statements from two security guards of BF homes just okabanacan and normal white further implicated Hubert kabatikan said that before the incident Hubert entered the subdivision and even introduced himself as the son of a congressman white said he saw three vehicles enter the community the day before the murders and this corroborated Jessica's statements he added that it was indeed Beyond who was first at the scene of the crime according to lauro visconde other relatives and Friends Carmela mentioned that she turned down a Suitor who was the son of a congressman in baranaka City she didn't tell them his name but called him by a Filipino term that meant rude and arrogant when Hubert was interviewed in 1993 when his name came up in the investigation he vehemently denied knowing or courting Carmela Carmela's friend later refuted this stating that he'd seen them together and Carmela mentioned to him that Hubert was rude and arrogant and that's why Carmela turned him down hearings officially started in October 1995 at the paranaque regional trial court under Judge Emily tatolentino everyone questioned Jessica's motives and wondered why it took her four long years to come forward she reportedly told the media that she had forgotten about the incident because she was under the influence of drugs she said she was also scared traumatized and battling drug addiction and Jessica added that she was offered bribes from the group such as free tickets to go to the U.S as well as a townhouse in a rich neighborhood in exchange for her silence when she stopped abusing drugs she had nightmares and she couldn't sleep she remembered the bloodied body of the little girl as for Hubert when he heard that he was implicated in the case he thought it was ridiculous because he was in Florida in the U.S the group was detained at a police camp before being transferred to the paranaque city jail according to Hubert they did not have any clue as to what was happening and they were only able to ask each other about their involvement at the police camp where they met for the first time the group of suspects flatly denied the allegations against them Hubert's father Freddie who was a Philippine Senator at the time of his testimony claimed that his son couldn't have possibly committed the crime as he was in another country Freddie further stated that he arrived in the U.S on June 28th two days before the murders to visit Hubert who he hadn't seen for more than three months Hubert asserted that he was indeed in the U.S and had a job he denied knowing Carmella as well as Jessica the other suspects also insisted that they did not know Jessica except for Peter Estrada who confirmed that he was her ex-boyfriend the defense tried to discredit Jessica's testimony by examining her personal life they attacked her credibility because she was a self-confessed former drug addict the defense attorney stated that the number of witnesses was irrelevant when credibility was in question and stressed that Jessica was clearly lying the attorney added that the National Bureau of Investigation itself created and fabricated the case using testimony from a drug addict who they trained to memorize the sequence of events in the open court it was revealed that Jessica wasn't an ordinary eyewitness and was in fact a long time Informer of the NBI an MBI asset supplied information on drug pressures and criminals to arrest them Hubert's lawyers pointed out the lack of consistency in her statements especially when she stated that she saw the crime taking place from the slightly Open Door the defense called upon the fisconda families made belindo mentita who knew the layout of the rooms of the house she said that it's impossible to see anything if you only take a peek she said people had to end her rooms to actually see what was happening inside the defense turned its focus on the accusation that Hubert was in Manila at the time based on the documents provided by the FBI that were requested by the Philippine government the travel records from U.S immigration and naturalization services corroborated Hubert's Alibi that he was indeed abroad during the trial Hubert's passport the customs declaration of his entry into the U.S and certification of employment at a pest control firm were shown as evidence a check payment for his Services stated July 7 1991 his driver's license stated June 14 1991 and his signature were also presented affidavits from friends and family attesting to his presence in the United States when the crime was carried out were also submitted to the court as well as photographs and a video of Hubert in the snow the case hinged on Hubert if he wasn't in the Philippines at the time the others did not have a motive to visit Carmela Hubert continued to reiterate that he was abroad his passports had stamps showing his 19-month stay in the U.S which started March 9 1991. he went back to the Philippines on October 26 1992. despite this the NBI and the prosecution panel asserted that even though it was confirmed that Hubert was in the U.S starting March 1991. it was still possible for him to return to the Philippines easily commit the crime and go back undetected in the 1990s people had the choice not to have their passport stamped it was a common practice especially among immigrants Hubert's Camp presented certifications but the prosecution insisted that they could have been fabricated when reporters searched for Hubert's records at the Bureau of immigration they said they were missing only the Manifest and photocopy of the ticket were found the actual record of his departure could not be provided the defense filed a motion for DNA analysis to clear Hubert's name the judge dismissed their petition stating that the technology was not yet available in the country and not yet accepted in Philippine courts as evidence in 1993 beyond the policeman who was allegedly involved in destroying evidence was found guilty even though he continued to deny tampering with the evidence he surrendered on August 21st 1995 and was charged with accessory to the murder of the fisconda family he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on January 6 2000 almost a decade after the massacre judge Tolentino handed down a 186-page decision convicting the suspects Hubert Webb Estrada Fernandez gatchalian lejano and Rodriguez guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt for homicide they were sentenced to reclusion perpetua in order to pay the visconda family 3 million pesos as indemnity according to the judge the testimonies of the accused were full of bias and inconsistencies since most of the Witnesses were relatives and Friends of Hubert Webb in the U.S the pictures and videos were tampered with and heavily edited the certifications and documents from the U.S ins could have been easily obtained by such a powerful and influential family on December 16 2005 the court of appeals retained the trial judge's decision giving Hubert Webb and the group no chance to seek reconsideration the webs appealed the case numerous times until it reached the Supreme Court in 2007. it is important to note that DNA testing was only allowed to be admissible as evidence in the same year on April 22nd 2010 the supreme court ordered the reopening of the case and granted the request of the convicted murder Hubert Webb for the forensic examination of evidence the procedure however was not carried out because the NBI reported that the specimen was no longer in their custody and was returned to the paranyaki regional trial court they denied having the specimen as well the significant piece of evidence that could have been used to prove the guilt or innocence of the accused was missing then on October 8 2010 Hubert Webb filed a motion for an acquittal they argued that Webb's constitutional right to Due Process was violated when the state through negligence or willful suppression failed to produce the specimen that could have proven his innocence on December 14 2010 Webb and five others were acquitted by the Supreme Court upon finding that the prosecution failed to prove that the accused were guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt the then president of the Philippines ordered the Department of Justice to look into the case once more on June 28 2011 Justice secretary De Lima released a statement wherein she declared that they proved that Hubert Webb was in the Philippines during the visconda massacre the evidence was based on the magnetic real tape from the Philippines Bureau of immigration which IBM had restored while monitored by the national computer center in the tapes Freddie Webb was seen leaving the country but Hubert was not with him Hubert's multiple arrivals and departures in and out of the country were visible this led Loro visconde to file a motion for a reversal of the acquittal to the Supreme Court but despite the New Evidence the emergence of witnesses and new testimonies the motion was denied because of the double jeopardy law however the Department of Justice still conducted the investigation to find out the truth and for the visconda family to have some form of closure there was no closure however for lauro until the day that he died from a heart attack from the burning of evidence unreliable Witnesses arrests based on torture and The credibility of justices it is clear that there were many flaws in the case who is really behind the visconda massacre were Hubert and the others truly innocent or did they manage to slip through the justice system these questions may never be answered that's all for today thanks for watching [Music]