G.R. No. L-6510, March 2, 1911
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. POLICARPIO GAVARLAN, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

The accused, Policarpio Gavarlan, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Court of First Instance of Iloilo for causing the death of Susana de Ocampo. Her body was found in a dry creek bed with a scarf tied tightly around her neck. Prior to her death, Susana had been missing, and it was known that she and the accused had been illicitly intimate, resulting in her pregnancy. Upon arrest, the accused voluntarily confessed that he killed Susana. According to his confession, he met her on the beach after she had reproached him for abandoning her for another woman. When she threatened to send him to Bilibid Prison if he did not provide for their unborn child, he claimed she suggested that he could kill her instead. With her consent, he used her scarf to strangle her and then placed her body in the creek bed. The confession was corroborated by the location of the body and the manner of death. The accused did not present any evidence in his defense during the trial.

ISSUE

Whether the crime committed by the accused constitutes murder qualified by treachery (alevosia) or the lesser crime of homicide.

RULING

The Supreme Court modified the trial court’s judgment, holding that the crime committed was homicide, not murder. The Court found no evidence of treachery (alevosia) in the commission of the crime. The only account of how the killing occurred came from the accused’s confession, which indicated that the deceased consented to her own death. The Court emphasized that, absent substantial proof to contradict it, the confession must be taken in its entirety. Since the confession did not reveal any sudden or unexpected attack that would characterize treachery, the killing lacked the qualifying circumstance for murder. Accordingly, the accused was convicted of homicide and sentenced to fourteen years, eight months, and one day of reclusion temporal, with an order to indemnify the heirs of the deceased and pay the costs of the trial.