Boholst says slain lawyer was a ‘battered wife’, threatened

A week after the murder of lawyer Amelie “Am-am” Ocañada-Alegre in  Mandaue City,  her law partner  Briccio Joseph Boholst, who survived the  car ambush,  visited  the Mandaue City Police Office  in crutches to meet with the police chief.

Boholst described  Amelie as a  battered wife and said she once got a death threat in a note posted on her car.

“Oo, battered wife kay psychologically abused siya. Meaning, pirmi na siya pasakitan, dili kaayo sa physical violence but more on psychological violence,” Boholst told Cebu Daily News.

(Yes, she was a battered wife because she was psychologically abused. She was always hurt,  not so much  physically but more on  psychological violence.)

Boholst  said Amelie often cried in the office about her marital troubles..

“Kahibaw ko kay magsige na siya og hilak sa opisina and then I remember nga ang iyang awto, gipapitlitan og notice nga “Bang patay ka. Kuwang ra na imong tiil,” Boholst revealed.

(I know because she always cried in our office. I remember that a note was posted on her car that said “Bang, you’re dead.  Your leg injury is not enough.)

But Boholst said they do not know who posted the note.

In 2010, Amelie was hit by a car  outside a restaurant in Mandaue City  and broke her leg.  The car was reportedly driven  by  a woman linked to her estranged husband.

Boholst clarified yesterday that he was not accusing anyone of being  responsible for Amelie’s death.

“I was not accusing anyone. I was just stating a fact that this could be a motive or an angle  because we will never know who the mastermind is until the assailants are arrested. Again I would like to clarify, I am not accusing anyone,” he said.

“The words I uttered when I was in the hospital were  just my expression of what were possible motives  of parties who may be interested to kill Amelie.”

Boholst said he met with   Senior Supt. Mariano Natuel to know the progress of the investigation.

In past interviews, Boholst, 55, said he believes  the motive of the killing could be related to  Amelie’s marital troubles. Her marriage was the subject of an annulment petition filed by her husband,

Ryan, and the couple disagreed over how to dispose of a property in Talisay City inherited from Ryan’s parents, said Boholst.

Police said they found out that  Amelie filed a case in 2013 against her husband for violation of the special law on Violance Against Women and Children.

But police said Ryan was not considered a suspect at this point, and that investigators were looking into four different theories, including a personal grudge and her troubled marriage.

Last Tuesday,  Ryan’s father, Engr. Ramon Alegre Jr. in a press conference said his son would never harm his wife Amelie and that the property mentioned was a  “small thing” to be the reason for his daughter-in-law’s death.

A GOOD FRIEND

Boholst said he wass deeply saddened by the loss of a  good friend. He described Amelie, 37,  as passionate in her job, very friendly, generous and approachable.

Amelie helped civic organizations involved in the  care of cancer patients and sponsored a scholar, he said.

At the police station, Boholst  asked for the possible return of the BMW sedan that Amelie was driving during the ambush.

The Official Receipt (OR) and the Certificate of Registration (CR) of the car are  in Boholst’s name.

Boholst earlier explained that he initally paid for the car intended for Amelie because she wanted to avoid tying it up in litigation over the divsion of conjugal assets in the annulment case.

Boholst also asked for the cellphone, iPad and laptop of the lady lawyer recovered in the car.

But Natu-el said he still needs to ask the PNP Crime Lab and the Anti-Cybercrime Group if the car and the gadgets can be returned.

MANHUNT

After a police  case conference yesterday afternoon, Natu-el said a manhunt will conducted  for the suspected killers.

He said after the sketches of two gunmen appeared in  the newspapers last Thursday,  police got they received calls from informants who reported possible sightings.

Amelie’s remains will be cremated today at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Lahug, Cebu City.