Trial Opens in Manila for Military Chief Ver and 25 Others Accused in Aquino Killing, Cover-up

The trial of armed forces chief Fabian Ver and 25 others accused in the murder of opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr. opened Friday with defense attorneys disputing allegations that the army plotted the assassination.

Outside the heavily guarded courtroom, two dozen Aquino supporters picketed to protest presiding Judge Manuel Pamaran’s order allowing defendants not released on bail to remain in military custody.

One civilian and 25 soldiers, including Ver and two fellow generals, were indicted in the slayings of Aquino and of Rolando Galman, the man who prosecutors say was made a scapegoat for the Aquino slaying in an attempted cover-up.

Return From Exile

Aquino, once the chief voice of opposition to the authoritarian government of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was shot to death at Manila airport when he returned Aug. 21, 1983, from three years of self-imposed exile in the United States. Galman was shot down by soldiers immediately afterward.

A civilian commission concluded that Aquino was the victim of a military conspiracy. The panel said the popular former senator was shot by one of his military escorts as he descended the stairs from the plane to the Tarmac.

Maj. Gen. Prospero Olivas, the only defendant acting as his own attorney, disputed the commission’s conclusion that the murder weapon was a .38-caliber or .45-caliber pistol--standard issue for soldiers--and not a .357 magnum, the gun found with Galman after he was shot.

Cover-up Charges

All 26 defendants attended Friday’s session of the trial. Seventeen of the defendants, including Brig. Gen. Luther Custodio, are charged as principals and could be sentenced to death. Ver and Olivas are among 20 military men named as accessories for allegedly covering up the crime. Those like Ver charged solely on counts of covering up could be imprisoned for 20 years if convicted.

Nine witnesses were called on the first day of the trial, during which defense attorneys and Judge Pamaran asked most of the questions and the judge rapped his gavel repeatedly to quiet the courtroom. The witnesses included medical and ballistics experts.

Dr. Bienvenido Munoz, the government pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Aquino, testified that the opposition leader was killed by a bullet fired into the back of his head from four to six inches away.