FBI asked to conduct autopsy<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): The Philippines and Singapore have agreed to
\nask the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to conduct an
\nautopsy of the remains of a Filipina maid in a bizarre twist to a
\nmurder case that has rocked relations between two Asian allies.<\/p>\n
The shipment of Delia Maga's remains to the United States will
\nmake the corpse of the domestic helper probably one of the most
\ntravelled in Philippine diplomatic history.<\/p>\n
The decision to seek FBI help was reached in talks during the
\npast week between Singaporean Foreign Minister Shanmugam
\nJayakumar and his Philippine counterpart, Roberto Romulo, said a
\nsenior diplomat who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n
Romulo formally stepped down from his post on Sunday after
\nbeing forced to resign in the wake of a bitter diplomatic row
\nbetween his country and Singapore.<\/p>\n
The row was triggered by the hanging in Singapore on March 17
\nof another Filipina maid, Flor Contemplacion, who had confessed
\nto killing Maga and a Singaporean boy in Maga's care in 1991.<\/p>\n
Although Contemplacion repeatedly confessed to the murders,
\nmany in the Philippines believe she was framed and tortured into
\nadmitting the crime.<\/p>\n
A Singaporean pathologist who first examined Maga's remains
\nafter the murder concluded she was strangled to death, backing
\nSingaporean police findings which pointed to Contemplacion as the
\nkiller.<\/p>\n
After Contemplacion was hanged, Philippine National Bureau of
\nInvestigation (NBI) experts exhumed Maga's corpse from her home
\ntown cemetery where it had been lying peacefully for four years
\nand brought it to Manila for a new examination.<\/p>\n
They later said they found evidence Maga was severely beaten
\nbefore she was strangled and suggested her killer was a man,
\nbolstering Filipinos' belief that Singapore had hanged an
\ninnocent woman.<\/p>\n
Singaporean experts, backed by American consultants, flew to
\nManila and joined the NBI in examining Maga's remains for the
\nthird time to try to break the impasse.<\/p>\n
Both sides insisted on their previous findings.<\/p>\n
This is where the FBI now comes in.<\/p>\n
\"If the Philippine... findings are upheld, Singapore will
\nreopen the Flor Contemplacion case. If the panel upholds the
\nSingapore pathologist's findings, the Philippines will abide by
\nsuch a decision,\" the Singaporean and Philippine governments said
\nin a joint statement on Sunday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fbi-asked-to-conduct-autopsy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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