PNP medico-legal officer stands by autopsy result

RESULTS of the DNA test showed there were no other bodily fluids found in the corpse of murder victim Christine Lee Silawan.

Medico-legal officer Benjamin Lara of the police crime laboratory stood by his findings that he did not see any fresh laceration on the 16-year-old girl’s privates.

The official said the results showed the victim was not raped, or the suspect used a condom when he raped her.

On Monday, April 8, Lara showed reporters the result of the DNA test conducted by the crime laboratory in Manila.

“We cannot totally rule out the possibility that she was raped because there are factors that may come into play na wala kang DNA. All I’m saying is that, in my examination of the fresh cadaver, there were no recent injuries noted on the genitalia,” he said.

Lara conducted the first autopsy on Silawan a few hours after her body was found on a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City last March 11.

He reiterated that he did not see any hematoma on the girl’s genitals, except for two healed wounds.

Lara said that in most of the 200 rape cases he had handled since he became a medico-legal officer in 2004, he found a new wound or hematoma on the victim’s privates. He did not find any in Silawan’s.

Lara’s findings contradicted those of Dr. Erwin Erfe, the forensic pathologist of the Public Attorney’s Office.

Erfe said a re-autopsy was conducted on Silawan’s remains on March 22 upon her mother’s request. He concluded that the girl was raped.

Lara said their findings also show that the suspect did not use acid in skinning the face of the girl as the victim’s eyes were not damaged.

The suspect, he said, may have used acid, but it did not touch her eyes.

Lara also did not find marks on the neck, which means the suspect did not choke her to death.

Silawan succumbed to 30 stab wounds. /