Hultman-Chapman murder case

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The Hultman-Chapman murder case was a murder case that gained wide publicity in the Philippines during the early 1990's. This is due to the fact that Claudio Teehankee Jr., the perpetrator of the crime, was the son of the late former Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee Sr. and the brother of former Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee. The case helped sway the public view on crime and restore the death penalty in the Philippines.

Court records show that Chapman, Hultman, and another friend, Jussi Leino, were coming home from a party at around three o'clock in the morning of July 13, 1991. Leino was walking Hultman home along Mahogany street in Dasmariñas Village, Makati City when Teehankee came up behind them in his car. He stopped the two and demanded that they show some identification. Leino took out his wallet and showed Teehankee his Asian Development Bank ID. Teehankee grabbed the wallet. Chapman, who was waiting in a car for Leino, stepped in and asked Teehankee: “Why are you bothering us?” Teehankee drew out his gun and shot Chapman in the chest, killing him instantly. After a few minutes, Teehankee shot Leino, hitting him in the jaw. Then he shot Hultman on the temple before driving away. Leino survived and Hultman died two months later in hospital due to brain hemorrhages caused by the bullet fragments. Teehankee was arrested several days later on the testimony of several witnesses. The witnesses were Domingo Florence and Agripino Cadenas, private security guards, and Vincent Mangubat, a driver, all three being employs of residents of the village.

Claudio Teehankee Jr. was convicted by the the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 1995 of murders of Roland John Chapman and Maureen Hultman and sentenced to one count of reclusión perpetua and two counts of reclusión temporal. As of 2006, he was incarcerated for thirteen years at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.^[1]

The killings of Chapman and Hultman, together with other notable heinous crimes such as the murder of Eldon Maguan and the Vizconde massacre caused the Philippine Congress to restore the death penalty in the Philippines in 1993. The imposition of the death penalty had been suspended with the enactment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.^[2] The death penalty would again be barred in the Philippines after legislation to that effect was passed in 2006.