Two men in hiding have been arrested for the death of a U.S. Marine killed in the Philippines more than five years ago.
Maj. George Anikow, from Howell, N.J., had served in Afghanistan before moving to the Southeast Asian country with his wife, an American diplomat.
The 41-year-old father of three was stabbed to death during a fight near his home outside Manilla in November 2012. Legal proceedings had resulted in his convicted killers avoiding prison time.
Galicano Datu III and Crispin dela Paz were charged after the case was downgraded from murder to homicide, but were given probation, according to local news reports.
The judge in the case was later dismissed and had his retirement benefits stripped as a result of his “oppressive disregard” for evidence in that and other trials, leading to new arrest warrants.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg told ABS CBN that he was “disappointed” that no one had “served a day for that brutal crime.”
But the American Embassy reacted Monday to the arrests carried out last week by saying it “welcomes” the moves against Datu and Dela Paz and praising Filipino authorities for “bringing some measure of justice to this senseless crime.”
An obituary for Anikow in the Asbury Park Press said that in addition to receiving numerous awards in the military, he was an “an enthusiastic and beloved soccer and baseball coach” for his children and “always ready to help a neighbor or friend in need.”
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