Echanis sustained multiple injuries before final, fatal stab —forensic pathologist Fortun

An independent autopsy of the remains of peace consultant Randall Echanis showed indications that he was made to suffer before being killed, an expert said Friday.

Forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun said she found multiple "superficial" stab wounds on Echanis' body apart from one deep puncture wound in the back that she said damaged his aorta, the largest artery in the human body, and killed him "at once."

Fortun said the body bore around 12 knife-like stab wounds and around 28 pointed punctures, including the fatal one.

Contrary to initial reports, Fortun said Echanis did not sustain any gunshot wound. She explained the blunt force trauma to the head created an injury that may have been mistaken for a gunshot wound.

While Fortun stopped short of calling it "torture," she said the "implications are likely to be there."

"If literally torture means suffering was inflicted, and in this sense, physical suffering, it looks like he sustained a lot of injuries first that were not intended to kill him outright and the final fatal injury was that stab wound. The implication is there," she said at a virtual press conference.

She said the distribution of Echanis' injuries implies intent on the part of the assailant. When asked, she said it was likely that there was more than one attacker and at least three weapons.

She added that there was "little indication of struggle," citing Echanis' age and the position he might have been in at the time of the crime. He was 72 years old, according to Anakpawis party-list, which he chaired.

But Fortun said a victim's body "can only tell you so much," explaining that the crime scene should have been carefully processed to preserve physical evidence.

Fortun said the final autopsy report may be out next week.

"Malayo sa 'simpleng krimen' o robbery na ipinipilit ng mga pulis ang nangyari sa aking asawa," Echanis' widow, Erlinda, said in response to the autopsy findings.

Erlinda stressed that they believed the killing was "politically motivated" and related to his being a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and chairman of Anakpawis.

Echanis and his neighbor, Louie Tagapia, were found dead in a rented house in Novaliches, Quezon City last week. Though his family immediately identified one of the bodies as his, police did not confirm this until two days later, initially claiming that an ID found in the crime scene had a different name.

Echanis, known in activist circles as "Ka Randy," was part of peace talks with the Duterte administration from 2016 to 2017.

Police, the Department of Justice, and the Commission on Human Rights are investigating the incident.—AOL, GMA News