Preacher’s new life ends in death at bride’s hands

Dec 12 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

CHESHIRE clergyman David Brash was full of anticipation for his new life in the Philippines and excited for his first Christmas with his new Filipino bride.

But, while he wrote with pride on his website about how hard his 22-year-old wife Annalyn Bataller Brash was working to prepare for his arrival, she was secretly plotting his death, police believe.

Last night, after she had been charged with his murder, his grieving family in England attempted to come to terms with the grisly details of how he was slaughtered by hitmen in a pre-arranged attack before his body was burned and dumped in a swamp.

His decomposing body was found on Saturday after being reported missing by his wife close to the new home he was having built for his new young family.

Press reports in the Philippines claim Mrs Brash confessed to hiring the hitmen to kill Warrington Baptist minister Mr Brash, whom she married in October last year following a whirlwind romance.

Police claim she has since admitted paying 30,000 Philippine pesos, about £350, to have her 62-year-old husband – a committed fundraiser – murdered.

She subsequently led police to the swamp in Mindanao where his body was found, before being arrested and charged with murder alongside her alleged lover and husband’s driver, Renante Puerto Prado, 22; and Noah Martinez Noja, 30.

She is said to have complained that she and her young son were “mistreated” by Mr Brash who ran the Runcorn Independent Baptist Church for 12 years and began preaching visits to the Philippines in 2000.

Those who knew the father of two adult sons from his first marriage described Mr Brash as “a man who loved God and wanted to serve God.”

Friends added that, while the community had been very saddened by the news that he was emigrating for good, Mr Brash had assured them that he was excited about the prospect and was sure he was doing the right thing.

Senior Inspector Reynante Ngoho Sibayton, a station commander in Butuan City, told the news website mindanao.com: “In the way the crime was committed and the remains buried, it would have been impossible to locate the missing British national without the wife’s assistance.”

Mr Brash’s ex-wife, Veronica Brash, 61, at home in Grappenhall, Warrington, said: “We have a very difficult situation to deal with.

“Please don’t bother us.”

Stuart Hart, a schoolteacher and secretary of Runcorn Independent Baptist Church, who had known Mr Brash for about 15 years, was one of the few friends to have met Annalyn.

He described her as a “pleasant young girl” and added: “I met Annalyn very briefly, it couldn’t have been for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

“She was a very pleasant young girl, she seemed to be just a nice person. David really enjoyed spreading the word of the Gospel and he loved the Philippines.

“He went back each year, for longer periods of time and during one of the visits he met Annalyn.

“It’s been described as a ‘whirlwind’ romance but I think it happened across a number of visits over a period of two, or maybe three, years.”

Mr Hart said Mr Brash first visited the Philippines after being invited to preach by a local church.

He would return to the country each year for longer periods and, when back in the UK, would organise for computers to be sent out to schools in poor Filipino communities.

Mr Hart said: “It was God who called him to the Philippines, to spread the word.

“He was a very effective preacher and his loss is not just a loss to those who knew him in the UK but also those who would have learned so much from him in the Philippines.’’

carolineinnes