Self-confessed killer of Lapu-Lapu teen pleads not guilty to murder charges

LAPU-LAPU CITY — Renato Llenes, the self-confessed killer of Christine Lee Silawan, has entered a not guilty plea to the murder charges  he is facing for the brutal death of 16-year-old teen from Lapu-Lapu City.

Llenes was arraigned before Branch 70 of the Lapu-Lapu City Regional Trial Court past 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 7, 2019.

Lawyer Manuel Degolacion, Llenes’ counsel, said his client entered a not guilty plea in the hopes of downgrading the case to homicide.

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Degolacion explained that by pleading not guilty, the court will still hear the prosecution and determine if the circumstance in the killing of Silawan meets the requirement for it to be considered murder.

Read more: Suspect Llenes recounts how he killed 16-year-old Christine Silawan

“He entered a not guilty plea as to the charge of murder. We want to emphasize that the charge should be downgraded to homicide because there is a big difference [in the punishment] for murder and homicide,” Degolacion said in an interview.

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Silawan is the grade 9 student from Maribago National High School who was found dead, her face skinned to the bone, in a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal early morning on March 11, 2019.

Llenes was nabbed by the police on April 9, 2019, where he made an extra-judicial confession to having killed Silawan.

Degolacion explained that they only wanted to mitigate the punishment for Llenes by entering a not guilty plea. However, he said that they will not retract the extra-judicial confession affidavit that Llenes earlier executed. /bmjo