HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man and a woman pleaded not guilty to charges related to a fatal shooting and robbery at Thai Thai Healthy Cuisine restaurant earlier this year.
Nearly two months after 53-year-old woman Sumittra Lairopi was shot and killed outside the Tamuning restaurant on Feb. 14, suspects Domingo Mendiola and Jenna Manibusan pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges related to the shooting and robbery.
Mendiola was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card and destruction of evidence, as well as violation of a court order.
Manibusan, Mendiola’s girlfriend, faces charges of complicity to commit aggravated murder, complicity to commit first-degree robbery, complicity to commit theft of a motor vehicle and theft by receiving.
Both Mendiola and Manibusan, through their respective attorneys, also waived their right to a speedy trial, requested all discovery and asked to have a jury trial of 12.
The couple’s trial will be held before Presiding Judge Alberto Lamorena III.
Shooting
Mendiola and Manibusan’s charges were the result of a Guam Police Department investigation into the death of Lairopi. The investigation identified Mendiola as the man wearing a white ski mask who shot Lairopi and stole her car Feb. 14, court documents state.
An unnamed witness also spoke with police and admitted to being aware of the robbery and shooting and stated Mendiola “discussed a plan to rob someone.”
The witness also said Mendiola needed money for an “owed drug debt,” according to the court complaint.
The witness told investigators that Mendiola and Manibusan were going to rob a different woman, but the woman went into a residence before they could complete the robbery.
Mendiola allegedly claimed “he didn’t know anything about the shooting,” the complaint stated.
Mendiola and Manibusan are both held at the Department of Corrections on $500,000 and $100,000 cash bail, respectively, as they await trial.
Jenna Manibusan
Domingo Mendiola
