SC reinstates arrest warrant vs. wife of slain racer Enzo Pastor

The Supreme Court on Thursday announced that it has reinstated the arrest warrant and hold departure order against Dalia Guerrero Pastor, who is accused of killing her husband, international racing champion Enzo Pastor in 2014.

In a decision, the SC Second Division reversed the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA), which dismissed the parricide case against Dalia.

According to the court, Enzo was shot dead at the intersection of Visayas Avenue and Congressional Avenue in June 2014.

Prosecutors charged Dalia, self-confessed gunman and Police Officer II Edgar Angel, and Domingo de Guzman III as the masterminds in the killing. The SC said Angel and De Guzman were arrested, while Dalia remained at large.

In 2015, Dalia asked the Court of Appeals to order the dismissal of a criminal case filed against her.    

'Co-conspirator'

The CA ruled in her favor and dismissed the charge, the SC said, for lack of probable cause. The high tribunal said that even if she knew the agreement between Angel and De Guzman, it did not prove that she conspired with them.

However, the SC said the evidence only needed to show that a crime had been committed by the suspects. It said it did not require evidence of guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

For the SC, there was sufficient evidence that identified Pastor as a co-conspirator in the killing.

'Active hand'

According to the SC, Dalia and Enzo's house help witnessed the former's alleged affair with De Guzman. Angel also claimed that De Guzman showed him pictures of Dalia with bruises and asked him to kill Enzo for beating her up.

A self-proclaimed gun for hire also claimed that he met with Dalia and De Guzman, who allegedly offered him P200,000 to kill Enzo.

Mechanic Paolo Salazar, who was with Enzo at the time of the incident, said Pastor called Enzo multiple times to identify their location.

"The Court found that all these show Dalia had an active hand in planning Enzo's ambush," the SC said in a statement.

Dalia remains at large, the high court said.

In 2015, Enzo's father said Dalia was reportedly hiding in Indonesia under a new identity, Amanda Maragit, and had re-married a local. — VDV, GMA Integrated News