The family of the late Christine Dacera believes that she was drugged and raped before her death at a New Year's Eve hotel party, that's why they sought a second autopsy on her remains, their lawyer said Wednesday.
The first post-mortem from the police said Dacera died from an aneurysm or a swollen vein and failed to include "apparent" bruises in her hands and legs. The more detailed autopsy is expected net week, said lawyer Brick Reyes.
Dacera, a 23-year-old flight attendant was found dead in the bathtub of her Makati City hotel room in the morning of Jan. 1 after a night of partying with close friends. Reyes said Dacera was unaware that the party grew to up to 16 men and herself, the only woman.
"The family believes Christine was drugged that early morning of Jan. 1, which explains her incoherent behavior, which eventually led to her collapse and probabaly, sexual assault by different individuals," Reyes told CNN Philippines.
Without prejudging the case, Reyes said there was "probable cause" to file rape with homicide complaints.
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Drink was laced?
Dacera had told one of her friends at the party that she suspected that her drink was spiked, causing her to have a headache, her mother said earlier. This conversation reportedly happened at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 1.
She last had a video call with her mother, Sharon, at 12:35 a.m. Mrs Dacera said she saw two familiar faces with her daughter during the video call and that her daughter was with three men, all friends, in her room at the City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati.
Reyes said there were 17 people in the party where Dacera was the only woman, 5distributed between two rooms, 2209 and 2207.
"The family believes she was not aware of this number of people who were going to participate in this celebration for New Year," he said.
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The bruises on her arms and legs "manifest some kind of resistance," Reyes said. Dacera was not the type to use drugs because of her work as a flight attendant, he said.
Autopsy leaked?
Reyes refused to authenticate a supposed autopsy on Dacera that had circulated on social media. He said the family would compare the results of the second autopsy once it is out with the first one.
"We are not rushing it. We want a detailed medico legal report which we could compare with the medial report of Dr Sarmiento," he said, referring to the initial police findings.
He also cautioned the police against declaring that there was no foul play. "You should investigate properly before you make statements that there's no foul play."
The family was "surprised" that the bruises were "overlooked" in the first report that cited anuerysm as the cause of death.
Those detained are unwilling to take a drug test, he said. Police earlier said three people were detained, including the hotel duty manager.
Gregorio De Guzman, a new acquaintance of Dacera who was with her at the party and who brought her body to the hospital, refused to give a statement to police on Jan. 1 and was allowed to go home, the lawyer said.
Police had identified nine people who were with Dacera that night as "at large."
"We hope as these suspect all turn themselves in to the police, we will be able to determine this more accurately, who used drugs and who sexually assaulted Christine so they can be held criminaly liable," he said.
