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4 persons of interest eyed in murder of ex-justice Pizarro

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<p>MANILA - The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Wednesday it has identified 4 &quot;persons of interest&quot; in the killing of former Court of Appeals Justice Normandie Pizarro, who was recently confirmed to be the man found dead in Capas, Tarlac in October.</p><p>&quot;We found them to be possible suspects or either witnesses later on,&quot; NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Matters of Fact.&quot;</p><p>Among these persons of interest is a man who was last seen together with Pizarro in a security footage at a hotel and casino in Clark, Pampanga on Oct. 23, he said.</p><p>The man, which Lavin described to be &quot;in his senior years,&quot; reportedly owed the former justice money ranging from P100,000 to P200,000. The two met at a casino in August.</p><p>Lavin said the man was &quot;very cooperative&quot; with the NBI but was found to have given conflicting statements during investigation.</p><p>&quot;Mayroon pa siyang fear, alanganin pa siya (He still has fear, he&#x27;s still hesitant)... He&#x27;s holding back, he&#x27;s not telling all.. If we compare the pieces of evidence we gathered on the ground, medyo duda kami (we are suspicious) because some of the information can&#x27;t be validated,&quot; he said.</p><p>The other &quot;persons of interest&quot; the NBI is pursuing is a godfather of one of Pizarro&#x27;s children, the godfather&#x27;s acquaintance, and a woman close to the ex-justice, Lavin said.</p><p>&quot;We are looking at practically all the angles... and we&#x27;re not discounting the possibility that 2 or 3 or all of persons of interest may have conspired to kill the justice,&quot; he added.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-_Bl9-9yMZU?enablejsapi=1"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/21/20/nbi-doj-confirm-death-of-ex-ca-justice-normandie-pizarro">NBI, DOJ confirm death of ex-CA Justice Normandie Pizarro</a></li></ul><p>Pizarro&#x27;s body was recovered in Capas town on Oct. 30, a week after he went missing. As his cadaver had already deteriorated, the NBI forensics team just recently confirmed the former magistrate&#x27;s identity through DNA test.</p><p>The retired justice was shot in the back of his ear and the bullet exited in the upper left of his head, Lavin said. Pizarro&#x27;s right hand was also chopped off and his fingers in the left hand were cut off, he added.</p><p>&quot;We have not been able to establish whether he was shot first or if his hands were cut off first because when we accessed the cadaver it was already deteriorating,&quot; the NBI official said.</p><p>Pizarro retired February 2018, a year ahead of his mandatory retirement.</p><p>He became controversial after dismissing the murder case against former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, who was accused of killing Palawan-based environmentalist and radio host Dr. Gerry Ortega.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/11/18/kilalanin-ca-justice-na-ponente-sa-pag-absuwelto-kay-joel-reyes">KILALANIN: CA justice na ponente sa pag-absuwelto kay Joel Reyes</a></li></ul><p>The Court of Appeals, however, reversed the ruling and reinstated the murder charge in November 2019.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/20/19/ca-reinstates-murder-charge-vs-ex-palawan-governor-reyes-orders-arrest">CA reinstates murder charge vs ex-Palawan governor Reyes, orders arrest</a></li></ul><p>Pizarro also acquitted &quot;pork barrel queen&quot; Janet Lim Napoles of serious illegal detention based on reasonable doubt in May 2017, and rejected a Hawaiian court ruling awarding $2 billion in compensation to Martial Law victims.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/08/17/janet-napoles-acquitted-in-luy-illegal-detention-case">Janet Napoles acquitted in Luy illegal detention case</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/17/17/ca-junks-2-b-claim-of-marcos-rights-victims">CA junks $2-B claim of Marcos rights victims</a></li></ul><p>The Supreme Court in April 2018 fined Pizarro P100,000 for conduct unbecoming of a member of the judiciary over instances of gambling in a casino.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JKqrv5jxyRg?enablejsapi=1"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Wednesday it had identified 4 "persons of interest" in the killing of former Court of Appeals Justice Normandie Pizarro, who was found dead in Capas, Tarlac in October.</p>

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Wednesday it had identified 4 "persons of interest" in the killing of former Court of Appeals Justice Normandie Pizarro, who was found dead in Capas, Tarlac in October.