There is, according to defense lawyers, not enough evidence to convict Datu Unsay Ampatuan. for the massacre of 58 persons. His lawyer said neither the bullets nor the guns used in the massacre were presented in court, and that the prosecution presented “incentivized witnesses” who testified in exchange for money or favors, or were relatives of the Mangudadatus.

The Court of Appeals had ordered the freezing of all the known assets of Andal Ampatuan Sr., his sons Andal Jr. and Zaldy, and 25 other Ampatuan family members on June 6, 2011. The order covered 597 bank accounts, 113 real properties, 142 firearms, and 132 motor vehicles allegedly owned by the Ampatuans. By then, however, Andal Jr. had sold eight real properties.

The Ampatuans, according to prosecution witnesses, had planned to murder Toto Mangudadatu as early as July 2009, when he declared he was running for governor to contest the Ampatuans' control over Maguindanao province.

The Ombudsman's lifestyle check on the Ampatuans in 2010 showed that Andal Sr. alone “has amassed unexplained wealth manifestly and excessively out of proportion to his legitimate income for the years 2000 to 2009 in the aggregate amount of P183,424,326.71.” The report said 27 Ampatuans and their associates had 597 bank accounts listed in their names.