Bohol Provincial Board Member Niño Rey Boniel will be charged with parricide for the kidnapping and killing of his wife, Bien Unido Mayor Gisela Bendong-Boniel, police said.
Police investigators said Boniel kidnapped and shot his wife, a commercial airline pilot, and threw her body into the sea. Sun.Star Cebu reported that the parricide case will be filed in Lapu-Lapu Regional Trial Court, since Gisela was shot in Lapu-Lapu City. The serious illegal detention and kidnapping charges will be filed at the Tagbilaran Regional Trial Court in Tagbilaran, Bohol. (Read: Politician faces multiple charges for wife slay)
What we know so far about the case:
- Riolito Boniel, Niño’s cousin, told police it was Niño who shot Gisela while they were on a boat. They then wrapped her body with fishnet and weighed it down using 2 rocks.
- Angela Leyson, Gisela’s best friend, said they just came from filing a graft case with the Commission on Audit in Tagbilaran City and the mayor’s annulment papers.
- Leyson said Gisela wanted to leave Niño and felt she was only being used for her position.
- Leyson also told police that before she lost consciousness, she saw Gisela talking to her husband and then getting punched in the stomach.
- Sun.Star Cebu reported that when asked why he killed his wife, Niño shook and bowed his head and said, “Lawom kaayo (ang rason). Mangayo lang kog dispensa (It’s complicated. I just ask for forgiveness).”
- The Philippine Daily Inquirer, quoting friends of the couple, reported that Niño got angry at his wife when he learned she got a loan for a watch worth P2.5 million. (Read: Bohol mayor shot dead, thrown into sea; husband arrested)
