3D scan shows Cabral slid down ravine–PNP
A three-dimensional (3D) scan of the ravine on Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet, where resigned Department of Public Works And Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral was found dead, showed that she may have slid down, as there was no sign she was pushed, according to the Philippine National Police.
At a briefing in Camp Crame on Monday, PNP Forensic Group officer in charge Col. Pierre Paul Carpio said the 3D scan of the crime scene showed that Cabral fell to a point only 0.2 meters away from the base of the ravine and 16.9 meters in height from where she was last seen.
“If she was pushed, chances are she would have landed farther than that. You can see scratches on her hands and back. There is a big probability that she slid down,” Carpio said.
He compared the height of the ravine to a building around six to nine stories high, adding that the angle of the ravine was 8.58 degrees.
Autopsy findings
According to the PNP Forensic Group, the complete autopsy report of Cabral’s death “revealed a significant injury pattern consistent with a feet-first fall injury from a height.”
The autopsy findings said that Cabral’s left femur, left ankle, left tibia and left fibula were fractured while her hip joint was dislocated.
It placed the time of her death between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Dec. 18, due to the following cause: “blunt traumatic injuries to the head, trunk and left upper and lower extremities.”
Carpio said they also compared the set of fingerprints taken from the body of Cabral, marked “PM” for postmortem, with another set of fingerprints marked “S” that was provided by the National Bureau of Investigation.
The S fingerprints were from the certified true copy of computer-generated standard fingerprints belonging to Cabral based on NBI records.
According to Carpio, a comparison of the two sets of fingerprints showed that the “impressions were made by one and the same person.”
As for the histopathology examination, the PNP Forensic Group said the results reiterated that the cause of death was “consistent with the gross findings.”
It noted that there was a scalp and subdural hematoma, or bleeding near Cabral’s brain, on top of “peribronchiolar inflammation, mild emphysematous change and carbon-laden macrophages” in her lungs.
The histopathology findings also showed “no significant pathologic change in the pancreas, the spleen, the small intestine and the stomach.”
Toxicology, DNA test
An initial toxicology report from the Cordillera regional police’s forensic unit previously said that Cabral tested positive for citalopram, an antidepressant drug.
During the briefing on Monday, the PNP Forensic Group detailed that it took three specimens from Cabral’s body for the toxicology test: 3 milliliters (mL) of brownish semisolid material labeled “stomach content”; 4 mL of yellowish liquid labelled “urine”; and 2.5 mL of clear liquid labeled “vitreous humor” or a substance in the chamber of the eye.
According to Carpio, the urine and the vitreous humor were both positive for citalopram, while the sample taken from the stomach was submitted for further analysis.
Buccal and genital swabs, as well as fingernail clippings from Cabral’s body, generated a female DNA profile.
However, Carpio noted that the police have yet to obtain a DNA profile from either the parents or children of the former DPWH official.
Cabral’s driver, Ricardo Hernandez, first reported her missing to the police around 5 p.m. on Dec. 18, two hours after leaving her at Purok Maramal, Sitio Camp 5 on Kennon Road.
Hernandez said that she had asked to be left there alone at around 3 p.m. and that when he returned, she was not there.
Cabral was being investigated for her alleged role in the government’s corruption-plagued flood control projects that resulted in billions of pesos being lost to kickbacks.
She appeared at a hearing called by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure in September but failed to attend another one set on Dec. 15.
Prior to her supposed fall, Cabral had removed her shoes, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, who said it showed “psychological patterns of a jump suicide.”
