I Love Pinoys

Ifugao Regional Trial Court Judge Ester Piscoso-Flor issued the decision on woodcarver Juan Donald Duntugan of La Trinidad, Benguet, for bludgeoning to death Julia Campbell with a rock on April 8, 2007, in the mountain village of Batad, Ifugao province.

The killer buried the victim in a dry gorge, but surfaced and confessed to the crime 10 days later when Campbell’s body was discovered by authorities. Duntugan claimed he killed Campbell mistaking her for his enemy.

Geary Morris, Campbell’s elder sister, and the victim’s friends and colleagues in the Peace Corps were present during the verdict.

The 40-year-old Campbell quit her job as a journalist in New York City in 2005 to work as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. She taught English to a poor community in Albay province. She was touring Batad, which is famous for its rice terraces, when she was killed on an Easter Sunday.