THE Makati City Regional Court on Tuesday sentenced to 10 years imprisonment three of the four suspects in the killing of newspaper columnist Nixon Kua in Laguna four years ago.
In his 42-page decision, Judge Elpidio Calis found the accused —John Rey Cortez, Noel Garcia and Darwin Saniano—guilty and ordered them to pay the family of Kua P75,000 as civil indemnity for his death.
The three along with the other suspect Michael Molino were charged with robbery with homicide for killing Kua and frustrated homicide for the serious injury of his brother Allyson. The court, however, acquitted Molino for lack of evidence.
For the robbery with homicide, the three were sentenced to six years in jail while in the case of frustrated homicide, they were sentenced to at least four years.
The case was initially filed before an RTC branch in Calamba but the family asked the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice to transfer it to a different trial court for fear of a possible “miscarriage of justice,” saying a Calamba City prosecutor would possibly biased in favor of the accused.
Court records showed that Kua, 49, was killed by suspected robbers outside the house of his brother, Allyson, at the Ayala Greenfield Subdivision in Barangay Maunong on July 23, 2012. The robbers fled with the P90,000 cash contained in the bag of Kua’s daughter Sue Anne and left Alllyson wounded in the attack.
