U.S. car salesman sentenced to life

U.S. car salesman sentenced to life

MANILA (AFP): An American businessman was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Manila court yesterday for the 1993 murder and mutilation of his Filipina girlfriend.

Mark Stephen Whisenhunt, a car salesman from San Fransisco, California, was found "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" of murdering and mutilating Elsa Castillo on Sept. 23, 1993, inside his apartment in suburban Manila.

The prosecution built its case around the testimony of Whisenhunt's chauffeur, Demetrio Ravelo, who told the court he was ordered by his boss to load the torso and limbs of the mutilated corpse into his car trunk and to dump them near Santa Rosa town, south of Manila.

The government dropped charges of accessory to murder against Ravelo in exchange for his testimony.