Cannery Murders -- A Twisted Tale Of Intrigue

June 1, 1981 - Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo, members of cannery workers union, are shot by two or more men while at the union hall on South Main Street. Before Domingo dies, he names Jimmie Ramil and Pompeyo Benito Guloy Jr. as the killers.

June 10, 1981 - Ramil and Guloy plead not guilty. Union reformers and their supporters form the Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes to press authorities for a thorough investigation of the murders. Among those who sign a statement asking for the investigation is union president Constantine ``Tony'' Baruso.

July 13, 1981 - Baruso is arrested and implicated in the murders when a pistol registered to him is linked to the shootings.

July 15, 1983 - Baruso is released when prosecutor says there is not enough evidence to try Baruso for the crimes. Baruso denies involvement in the shootings and says the murder weapon had been stolen from him. The Committee for Justice asserts the killings can be traced back to the government of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and that Baruso is an agent of the Marcos government.

Aug. 27, 1981 - At the trial of Ramil and Guloy, evidence is presented indicating Viernes and Domingo were killed because they had changed job-dispatch rules, giving first call for Alaska cannery jobs to union members on a seniority basis. Prosecutors say that before the reforms, union leaders often took bribes in return for jobs. Baruso is called as a witness and takes the Fifth Amendment 109 times.

Sept. 14, 1982 - A federal civil lawsuit seeking $30 million in damages is filed against a number of defendants including Ferdinand Marcos; Baruso; Tony Dictado, the leader of an International District Filipino gang called the Tulisan; Guloy; Ramil and a Seattle man identified as an intelligence operative of both the U.S. and Philippine governments. The suit accuses the Marcos government of ordering the murders and contends the U.S. government provided assistance to Marcos in suppressing anti-Marcos groups in the U.S. The plaintiffs, including the families of Viernes and Domingo, contend Marcos agents attempted to portray the murders as a local union dispute, when in reality the primary motive was to wipe out anti-Marcos resistance in the U.S.

Sept. 2, 1981 - Dictado pleads not guilty after being arrested and charged with participating in the murders.

Sept. 25, 1981 - Guloy and Ramil found guilty of Domingo-Viernes murders.

May 12, 1982 - Dictado is found guilty.

Dec. 20, 1983 - Baruso is convicted in federal court in Tacoma of embezzlement and mail fraud.

Feb. 11, 1984 - Baruso is sentenced to three years in prison and fined $5,650 for the convictions.

Nov. 20, 1989 - The federal civil case finally proceeds to trial before Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle.

Dec. 15, 1989 - A jury finds that the Marcos family is responsible for the deaths and grants plaintiffs a $15 million judgment.

Jan. 12, 1990 - Judge rules that Baruso and a Marcos associate in San Francisco, Leonilo Malabed conspired to hire the Tulisan gang to kill Viernes and Domingo. A key piece of testimony presented by attorneys for the plaintiffs was that Malabed paid Baruso $15,000 shortly before the murders.

Sept. 6, 1990 - King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng announces that Baruso has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder, based primarily on evidence developed by the Committee for Justice and lawyers in the federal civil suit.