Interpol has posted a Red Notice for the wife of Fredericton businessman Harry Doyle, more than three years after he was shot to death at a beach resort in the southern Philippines.
His Filipina wife, Erma “Jane” Udang Doyle, is one of the main suspects in 62-year-old’s murder and has maintained a residence in Fredericton since shortly after his death on Aug. 12, 2012.
A Red Notice is not a warrant, but an alert to member nations of the international policing organization that a suspect is wanted and a request is being made for arrest and extradition.
Harry’s older sister was surprised to learn about the notice when Global News contacted her at home Wednesday morning.
“That’s completely news to me,” Anne Doyle said. But she remains cautious about whether this means Jane Doyle will be extradited back to the Philippines. She and her younger sister, Joan Doyle, have been patiently holding onto hope that justice will finally be served in the case. But, as time goes on, they wonder when or even if that will happen.
“The justice system in the Philippines is very, very different from our system in Canada and to say I have faith in it at this point would be stretching it,” she said, although she said lawyers and police in the southern city of Surigao, where Harry lived with Jane and their son, have been supportive and encouraging.
READ MORE: Family, friends frustrated with slow pace of Harry Doyle murder case
To Anne’s knowledge, Canadian officials have yet to receive an extradition request from the Philippines. The family’s lawyer in the Philippines, she said, believed the best chance at getting Jane extradited to face charges would be if the other three suspects are found guilty and convicted.
At the time of publication, Global News was awaiting a response from RCMP about the Red Notice and whether any request. In an email to Global News ;ater Wednesday evening, the RCMP said it would not comment on the specific case but explained Mounties can only arrest a foreign fugitive if he or she has committed a crime in Canada or if an arrest warrant is issued by Canadian authorities after receiving a Provisional Arrest Request from a foreign country.
Police in the Philippines charged Jane Doyle with her husband’s murder — a charge of parricide, the murder of a parent or close relative — on Sept. 6, 2012, less than two weeks after she arrived in Canada with Harry’s remains, their son Joseph and pregnant with another child.
Jane, now 39, is one of four suspects in the murder. The other three are on trial in connection with the shooting but only two of the suspects, including Harry’s former driver, are in custody in the Philippines.
Police investigators believe Jane orchestrated her husband’s murder, that she was having an affair with their driver, Jerome Devocion, and the pair contracted brothers Jhonny (also in custody) and Jeffrey Parian (still at large) to carry out the shooting.
Harry left his entire estate worth more than $1.9 million to Jane in 2010, according to documents obtained by Global News. Other than covering the cost of the funeral and some costs associated with his Fredericton home, the estate has been frozen since after his death; she can’t receive anything if she’s convicted of his murder. The will is also being contested by Harry’s son from another marriage.
A warrant for Jane’s arrest was issued in the Philippines in August 2013, a year after Harry”s murder. It was another full year before the trial got underway and it’s still ongoing.
READ MORE: Philippine police confirm arrest warrants issued in murder of Fredericton man
Anne and her sister Joan have travelled to the Philippines twice since Harry was shot to death; Anne testified in the trial last year.
Despite apparently living in Fredericton all this time, Anne Doyle said she has had no contact with Jane since shortly after her brother was laid to rest on Oct. 5 of that year.
“I had invited her to that and tried to involve her in planning for it, but she didn’t get involved in anything about it, but she did show up,” said Anne, who is also executrix of her brother’s estate. “Not once have I run into her.”
Calls to Jane Doyle’s last known residence in Fredericton and the attorney she hired after coming to Fredericton, Ronald Morris, were not answered.
In her sworn affidavit, taken in Fredericton on Sept. 10, 2012, Jane said the allegations against her were unsubstantiated. She denied having any part in the killing.
Despite the slow pace of the judicial process, Anne Doyle said the family isn’t going to abandon the process. And no matter how much time has passed, she says their family is sitill mourning.
“He was a well-known Fredericton character and he is very much missed in our family,” Anne said. “The grief is still enormous.”
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