Kiwi coaches face homicide case in Philippines after player deaths
Filipino authorities have filed a homicide case against two Kiwi coaches linked to the deaths of two college basketball players in a pre-season bootcamp.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has recommended additional criminal charges for former Ateneo de Manila University basketball team head coach Tab Baldwin, who led the Tall Blacks from 2001 to 2006, and ex-Moana Pasifika strength and conditioning coach Grant Dearns, who serves in the same role at Ateneo.
The pair were named by the CIDG alongside nine others involved in the team-building exercise that led to Divine Adili, 21, and Rene Baterbonia, 19, drowning on June 8.
The CIDG said it conducted an “exhaustive investigation” and referred “homicide and reckless imprudence” resulting in homicide charges against Baldwin and Dearns before the Department of Justice (DoJ).
The CIDG had previously recommended that the Kiwi duo, along with the nine other individuals, be charged under anti-hazing laws.
“The DoJ assures the public that the matter will be evaluated expeditiously and objectively in accordance with the evidence, the law and applicable procedure,” DoJ attorney Polo Martinez said.
Adili and Baterbonia died during a team-building exercise that was part of a controversial military-style bootcamp overseen by Baldwin, with former players calling the annual pre-season event “hell week”, while it was also revealed that a former player previously “almost had an accident” during a training drill in the ocean.
Baldwin’s estranged wife Efi Kalogirou claimed she warned the university that “children are not safe around him” and that she had to “flee away from Tab” to keep her and her children “safe”, with the pair separated since 2020.
Local police said the players had been swimming in front of a resort and were “reportedly carried by a strong current into deeper waters”.
Tab Baldwin and Grant Dearns are facing homicide charges in the Philippines. Photos / The Guidon, Supplied
Baldwin said in a pre-recorded message that he had “failed as a leader” and claimed staff sent players into what they thought was shallow water before realising it was “dangerous” and did everything to try and get everyone out safely.
Baldwin, who is also facing an investigation into his employment status and remains in the Philippines, later resigned as head coach of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
Dearns, the strength and conditioning coach of the Blue Eagles, has reportedly returned to New Zealand.
Baldwin and Dearns have been approached for comment.
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