PEOPLE vs.

CORNELIO GELIN and MANUEL GELIN

G. R. No. 135693 April 1, 2002

FACTS:

An information was charged against Cornelio and Manuel Gelin, both CAFGU members, for the
murder of Dionisio Gelin. The prosecution claimed that on February 10, 1991 around 6:00pm, the accused met
Joel Gelin, the son of the victim, and forcefully brought the latter to the house of the victim where they, without
a warning, shot and stabbed the victim with a rifle and bolo called “Depang”. The accused denied the
accusations claiming that they were inside the camp of Philippine Army at the time the crime was committed.
Post-mortem examination of the victim conducted by Dr. Marcial Adal showed that the body was in rigor mortis
stage, a wound penetrating the sternum and several thru-and-thru gun-shot wounds.

The RTC of Eastern, Samar found both accused guilty of Murder, and sentenced them with reclusion
perpetua, hence the accused appealed to the Supreme Court. The accused contended that the body was already
at rigor mortis stage when examined at 7:00pm so the victim must have died hours before 6:00pm and
highlighted the testimony of Dr. Adal that the gunshot wound was inflicted post-mortem.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the accused’s contention that the victim died hours before 6:00 pm is correct.

RULING:

No, the accused’s contention that the victim died hours before 6:00 pm is not correct. Rigor mortis,
which consists in the stiffening of the muscular tissues and joints of the body, setting in at a greater or less
interval after death, may be used to approximate the length of time the body has been dead. In temperate
countries, it usually appears three to six hours after death while in warmer countries, it may develop earlier.
There is also the medical view that the early setting in of rigor mortis may be due to exhaustion or muscular
irritability. In this case, Dr. Adal also clarified that when he examined the body of the victim, rigor mortis was
just beginning to set in. The factors mentioned may therefore explain the setting in of rigor mortis at the time the
cadaver of the victim was examined. Consequently, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the RTC with
modification with respect to the amount of payment.