G.R. No. L-2623 - People vs. Banayad

On the evening of October 14, 1946, between 9 and 10 o’clock, Gregorio Reyes Uy Un was found dead in the house of his relative, Siaba, in barrio Vigo Kantidang, San Narciso, Quezon province.
Two carbine shots were discharged from outside the house, with one bullet entering the right side of the abdomen (near the navel) and exiting below the right clavicle, while the other entered an inch below the navel and exited above the left nipple. The bullets traveled almost parallel to the body.

After the shooting, the other occupants of the house awoke but did not see the shooter.
The police, upon their arrival the next morning, recovered two .30 cal. slugs near the mat by the cadaver and two empty carbine shells from under the house’s siding.
A crucial piece of evidence was the carbine in the possession of appellant Arsenio Banayad which contained a piece of dried coconut leaf lodged between its barrel and the tip of the stock—a piece similar to the coconut leaves used in the house siding—and a corresponding opening was found in the siding.

During the investigation, the chief of police encountered Jose Carbido, who admitted that he had borrowed the carbine from Banayad at the behest of his brother, Antonio.
On the following day, Banayad gave a first statement (Exhibit 1) claiming that he had received the unlicensed carbine from Mayor Gaudencio Medinilla in May 1946 for hunting and that he had been at home in Tala the night of the crime.

In a subsequent investigation by the military police on November 2, 1946, Banayad gave another statement (Exhibit 2), alleging that he met Leoncio Hanabaab while hunting and that Hanabaab instructed him to keep silent, as Hanabaab was the one who had shot Uy Un.
Five days later, Banayad offered yet a different account (Exhibit 5) wherein he alleged that the Pabon brothers coerced him into accompanying them to the victim’s residence for a premeditated murder driven by a personal vendetta over a previous theft-related prosecution.

Under questioning by provincial commander Capt. Pedro Alcantara, Banayad repudiated his earlier accounts (except the first) and admitted that he was the one who shot Uy Un. He claimed that he acted on the orders of Mayor Medinilla, who harbored a grudge against the victim and had promised him P300 and support for his family if caught.
His detailed confession indicated that he approached the house carrying the carbine, used a big rock to steady himself for a clear shot from a hole he created in the siding, and then fired two shots, resulting in Uy Un’s death.
This confession was later confirmed when Banayad, before the Clerk of Court, signed a written and sworn statement (Exhibit H) and again acknowledged its voluntariness before two NBI agents.

Witness Simeona Montero testified that on the night of the crime, while observing from her window, she saw Banayad riding a carabao toward the scene of the crime around 9 o’clock.
Testimonies from Maximo Espinosa and Anacleto Requeron, who claimed to have spent the night at Banayad’s house, were found inconsistent and unconvincing.
Banayad’s criminal history, notably his prior conviction for theft upon complaint of the victim, potentially provided a motive for harboring a grudge.

Whether the appellant’s multiple statements—including his final confession—were voluntary and reliable, or whether they were coerced through threats and violence.
Whether the physical evidence (bullet trajectory, recovered ammunition, and the piece of coconut leaf) consistently corroborated the events as described in the confession.
The credibility and sufficiency of the alibi provided by the appellant in light of conflicting testimonies by witnesses such as Simeona Montero, Maximo Espinosa, and Anacleto Requeron.
Whether the evidence supports attributing the murder solely to appellant Banayad, as opposed to implicating accomplices like Leoncio Hanabaab and the Pabon brothers as suggested in his previous inconsistent narratives.