Topic: Art.

248 Murder
People vs. Whisehunt, G.R. No. 123819, November 14, 2001

Facts:

Apex employees, Whisehunt, accused, and the deceased, Elsa, were lovers.
That the latter resigned from Apex presumably to avoid the nasty rumors about her illicit
affair with accused. It appears, however, that she continued her affair with accused
even after she resigned from Apex Motor Corporation.

The following circumstances were successfully proven by the prosecution without

a shadow of doubt, to wit: that Elsa Santos Castillo was brought to accused-appellant’s
condominium unit on September 23, 1993; that on September 24, 1993, accused-
appellant’s housemaid was looking for her kitchen knife and accused-appellant gave it
to her, saying that it was in his bedroom; that on September 25, 1993, accused-
appellant and Demetrio Ravelo collected the dismembered body parts of Elsa from the
bathroom inside accused-appellant’s bedroom; that accused-appellant disposed of the
body parts by a roadside somewhere in San Pedro, Laguna; that accused-appellant
also disposed of Elsa’s personal belongings along the road going to Bagac, Bataan; that
the mutilated body parts of a female cadaver, which was later identified as Elsa, were
found by the police and NBI agents at the spot where Demetrio pointed; that hair
specimens found inside accused-appellant’s bathroom and bedroom showed similarities
with hair taken from Elsa’s head; and that the bloodstains found on accused-appellant’s
bedspread, covers and in the trunk of his car, all matched Elsa’s blood type.

On January 31, 1996, the trial court promulgated the appealed judgment, convicting
accused-appellant of the crime of murder, sentencing him to suffer the penalty
of reclusion perpetua, and ordering him to pay the heirs of the deceased actual
damage, moral damages, exemplary damages and attorney’s fees.

Issue:

a.) Whether or not the aggravating circumstance of abuse of superior strength is

present.

b.) Whether or not the aggravating circumstance of outraging and scoffing at the corpse
is present.

Ruling:

a.) No. The court did not agree with the trial court that the prosecution sufficiently
proved the qualifying circumstance of abuse of superior strength. Abuse of superiority is
present whenever there is inequality of forces between the victim and the aggressor,
assuming a situation of superiority of strength notoriously advantageous for the
aggressor and selected or taken advantage of by him in the commission of the
crime. The fact that the victim was a woman does not, by itself, establish that accused-
appellant committed the crime with abuse of superior strength. There ought to be
enough proof of the relative strength of the aggressor and the victim.

Abuse of superior strength must be shown and clearly established as the crime itself. In
this case, nobody witnessed the actual killing. Nowhere in Demetrio’s testimony, and it
is not indicated in any of the pieces of physical evidence, that accused-appellant
deliberately took advantage of his superior strength in overpowering Elsa. On the
contrary, this Court observed from viewing the photograph of accused-appellant that he
has a rather small frame. Hence, the attendance of the qualifying circumstance of abuse
of superior strength was not adequately proved and cannot be appreciated against
accused-appellant.

b.) Yes. The court held that other circumstance of outraging and scoffing at the corpse
of the victim was correctly appreciated by the trial court. The mere decapitation of the
victim’s head constitutes outraging or scoffing at the corpse of the victim, thus qualifying
the killing to murder.77 In this case, accused-appellant not only beheaded Elsa. He
further cut up her body like pieces of meat. Then, he strewed the dismembered parts of
her body in a deserted road in the countryside, leaving them to rot on the ground. The
sight of Elsa’s severed body parts on the ground, vividly depicted in the photographs
offered in evidence, is both revolting and horrifying. At the same time, the viewer cannot
help but feel utter pity for the sub-human manner of disposing of her remains.

WHEREFORE, the decision of the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City, Branch 152, in
Criminal Case No. 102687, finding accused-appellant guilty beyond reasonable doubt of
murder, and sentencing him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua, is AFFIRMED
with the following MODIFICATIONS.