GR L 4365; (August, 1908) (Digest)
G.R. No. 4365
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FERNANDO ESTABILLO, defendant-appellant.
August 25, 1908
FACTS:
On July 1, 1907, four employees of Compania Tabacalera, carrying P2,000, were waylaid on a public highway in Bauang, La Union, by a band of ten armed men, including Fernando Estabillo. After the money was taken and six of the robbers departed with it, the remaining four, including Estabillo, bound the four employees. They were then conducted about 150 yards away to a secluded mountain spot where they were placed, bound and squatting. Each robber subsequently attacked one of the prisoners. Two employees, Pablo Garcia and Gaspar Marquez, were killed outright, while Marcelo Agan and Francisco Galves sustained severe bolo wounds, with Agan becoming unconscious. Agan specifically identified Estabillo as the one who inflicted his wounds, having known him previously. Estabillo’s defense, claiming he was compelled to act as a guide, was not credited by the Court due to the specific testimonies of the surviving victims. The murders occurred at a different location and after an appreciable interval from the initial robbery.
ISSUE:
Can Fernando Estabillo be held liable for the complex crime of robbery with homicide, even if the homicides occurred at a different time and place from the initial robbery, and even if he did not personally inflict the fatal wounds on the deceased, given his participation in the common plan?
RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s judgment, holding Fernando Estabillo liable for the crime of robbery with homicide and sentencing him to death. The Court ruled that:
1. Even though the murders were perpetrated at a place different from that of the robbery and after an appreciable interval of time, both transactions were part of a general plan. The object of the murders was to eliminate witnesses, thus being in furtherance of the robbery. Therefore, the entire transaction constitutes the complex crime of robbery with homicide.
2. Despite Estabillo not having personally assaulted the victims who died, he participated in the common plan, and the murders were in furtherance of that plan. Thus, he is responsible for them.
The Court also noted that the crime was committed by a gang of men with alevosia (treachery) and without any extenuating circumstances. The judgment of death, with an indemnity of P500 to the heirs of Pablo Garcia and Gaspar Marquez, was affirmed.