Kuh Ledesma's ex-hubby denies killing stepbrother

Four months after the brutal killing of businessman Federico Delgado, Luisito Gonzales has finally showed up at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday to formally belie allegations that he was behind the slay of his stepbrother. Gonzales, ex-husband of singer Kuh Ledesma, showed up at the DOJ, a day before the scheduled preliminary investigation of the killing at the sala of Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Cielitolindo Luyun. He submitted to Luyun his counter-affidavit on the charge of murder lodged against him by the children of his stepfather, shipping magnate Don Francisco "Paco" Delgado. He was accompanied by lawyer Anacleto Diaz and 28 witnesses, mostly staff of the Makati Medical Center where the suspect claimed he was confined when the Match 10 killing of his stepbrother took place at the latter's home in Malate, Manila. "He personally subscribed his counter-affidavit before me. He presented 28 witnesses to strengthen his alibi that at the time of the incident, he was confined at the hospital," Luyun said. The prosecutor said the complainants may file their reply or rejoinder to Gonzales' counter-affidavit if they want to on or before August 8, after which the case is deemed submitted for resolution. Three of the victim's siblings, namely Franco, Jose Mari and Isabel, came to support the investigative findings of the Manila Police District that pointed to Gonzales as behind the killing. "There is a compelling, strong and convincing evidence against the suspect. But the bottomline is, we want justice to prevail. We dont want to put the wrong guy to jail in our quest for justice even as we hope that this process would be speedily resolved," Jose Mari, who stands as spokesman for the family, told reporters in an interview. He said Gonzales could not possibly deflect the eyewitness account of Annaliza Pesico, wife of the slain businessman, who positively identified him as the killer. Aside from Gonzales, his driver Antonio Buenaflor was also charged for Delgado's murder and frustrated murder of Pesico. Jose Mari also accused the said lawyers of Gonzales of resorting to dilatory tactics, pointing out that it took over four months before the accused submitted his counter-affidavit. Under the rules, the prosecution panel has to resolve a case within 90 days from the day of the filing of the complaint. If during that period, the respondent fails to answer the charges, the prosecutor is constrained to resolve the case without waiting for the filing of the respondent's counter-affidavit. Earlier, the Delgado family said the motive behind Federico's murder could be the "bagsful of documents" containing their father's multi-million peso-worth of assets and properties. - GMANews.TV