Suspect in horrific rape-murder case says he can’t be guilty because he’s gay
Gregorio de Guzman with his mother, famous Filipino singer Claire dela Fuente. (CNN Philippines)
Gregorio de Guzman, a suspect in the rape and murder of a Filipino flight attendant, has claimed he can’t be guilty because he is gay.
De Guzman, son of famous Filipino singer Claire dela Fuente , is one of 11 suspects charged with the rape and murder of Christina “Tin” Dacera, a 23-year-old Philippine Airlines flight attendant who died on New Years Day in Makati City, Philippines.
She was last seen at the City Garden Hotel, celebrating New Years Eve with at least 12 men. She checked into the hotel with three friends including de Guzman, according to CNN Philippines, and was later joined by nine others.
Dacera was found unresponsive in the bathtub of their hotel room, and was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
A medico-legal report by the Southern Police District Crime Laboratory Office revealed that according to the post-mortem, her cause of death was a ruptured aortic aneurysm.
But the report also noted she had lacerations and abrasions on her genitalia, as well as bruising on her right hand, right thigh, knees, ankles, right foot, and a linear abrasion on her right thigh.
On 5 January, Makati City Police chief Harold Depositar said that they had also found “sperm in her genitalia”. This was not noted in the post-mortem.
While three of the 11 suspects have been arrested, the others – including de Guzman – are being asked to surrender themselves to police. They have been given 72 hours before they are “hunted down”.
Gregorio de Guzman claims he can’t have raped Christina Dacera because he’s gay
According to Coconuts Manila, Gregorio de Guzman, who also works as a flight attendant, has now claimed he can’t be guilty of the rape and murder of Christina Dacera because he’s gay.
In an interview with the news programme QRT, he said: “How can there be rape? I’m gay. I have never had sex with a woman.”
He added: “What they are saying is painful. They don’t know what happened.”
De Guzman admits that he was in the hotel room where Dacera was found, but said he went to sleep after the party and woke up to find her unconscious in the bathtub.
He said: “I checked her nose to see if she was exhaling. There was nothing. I checked her heartbeat. There was nothing as well.
“I said, ‘Tin. Tin. Babe, wake up, please.’ And then I started to give her CPR.
“We carried her out of the tub by her arms. She was still warm. That’s why I thought I could still save her.”
De Guzman said he and his friends accompanied Dacera to the hospital.
“We were there,” he said. “We did not abandon Tin until the end. We did not leave her behind; so what they are saying is just painful.”
