NBI 7 examines diary of slain lawyer for clues

Investigators are poring over a diary kept by lawyer Amelie Alegre before she was gunned down in her car last Aug. 13 in Mandaue City.

The contents may have clues about death threats her colleagues said she was receiving.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 recently recovered Alegre’s personal notes from her office with the permission of her law partner Briccio Boholst, who survived the car ambush with a gunshot wound in the leg.

“She (Amelie) already had a premonition that if something would happen to her, this person may be liable,”  NBI Assistant Director Augusto Isidoro told reporters yesterday.

“The angle we’re looking into is more of a personal motive. We have gathered several documents and letters. We need to gather more evidence for an airtight case,” he said.

Amelie was driving a BMW sedan along Catalino Ouano St. in barangay Looc, Mandaue City last Aug. 13 when two men on board a motorcycle fired shots at her. She died in the car.

Her law partner, Boholst, and office accountant Antonio Pido were wounded.

Isidoro said the NBI  has cartographic sketches of the gunman and  driver of the get-away motorcycle but have yet to establish their names.

“Several individuals saw the faces of the gunman and the driver. They are just afraid to testify. If we will be able to get these two suspects and they will cooperate with us, then we will have the mastermind,” he said.

Based on the NBI’s investigation, Amelie was being monitored before she was killed.

“There were actually lookouts who conducted surveillance before the crime was carried out,” Isidoro said.

In an earlier interview, Boholst said Amelie’s strained relationship with her husband Ryan, who filed for annulment of their marriage,  made her fear for her life.

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Ryan denied any knowledge or role in his wife’s death when he was questioned by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Boholst has given his testimony to the NBI and Mandaue police who are conducting a parallel investigation.

Isidoro said the NBI, which was requested to step in by  Amelie’s family, is doing its best to solve the case.

He said that the crime was even more abhorrent because the victim was a woman.

“A number of lawyers have been killed in Cebu and the perpetrators think they can get away from it. We need the support of the community to address this,” he said.