MANILA, Jan. 31 -- A Philippine court Wednesday sentenced a U.S. national to life imprisonment for killing his Filipino lover in 1993 and ordered him to pay 3 million pesos ($119,118) in damages. Judge Ricardo Molina also ordered Stephen Mark Whisenhunt, 42, to pay an additional 100,000 pesos ($3,970) for funeral expenses.
Whisenhunt was found guilty of chopping to death Elsa Castillo, 33, on Sept. 24, 1993, after she decided to end their affair to go back to her husband. He received a sentence of life in prison rather than death because the crime was committed before the country reinstituted capital punishment in 1994. Whisenhunt was tagged as Castillo's killer two days after the crime by his driver, Demetrio Ravelo, who was the prosecutor's main witness. Ravelo said Whisenhunt chopped up Castillo's head and body parts and stashed them in plastic bags, which they dumped at vacant lots in the nearby provinces of Laguna and Bataan. Defense lawyer Manuel Pamaran said he would appeal the case, saying his client was convicted solely on the basis of 'circumstantial evidence.' 'There was no eyewitness,' he said. 'There were also many matters which the judge failed to consider.' He did not elaborate. Ravelo did not witness the killing of Castillo, but he helped Whisenhunt to place the body parts in the plastic bags and dispose of them along with the victim's possessions. But the court said the circumstantial evidence gathered against Whisenhunt were strong enough to convict him of the crime. 'There is no question the circumstantial evidence is sufficient to convict (the accused),' the court said.
