Police identify Australian’s ‘killers’

ITOGON, Benguet -- Police Regional Office–Cordillera (Procor) Director Benjamin Magalong announced they were able to identify suspects in the death of Australian yacht designer Joseph Allan Adams in Tuding village here.

However, the police director refused to divulge the names of the suspects so as not to interfere with the ongoing investigation.

Magalong added a special task force was created and headed by the Benguet Police Provincial Director Benjamin Lusad and the Regional Officer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Director Pedro Austria to conduct the investigation.

He said he had just called for a case conference last October 22 for the assessment of the investigation’s progress.

The region’s top cop said they saw things that they need to give attention to. Among these are searching the crime scene and continuous follow-up investigation.

“We did second and third searches in the area wherein during the second search on October 23, we discovered clothes stained with blood in a shanty near the crime scene. On the third search the following day, we installed many personnel. We discovered ‘bolos’,” he said.

The regional director said they forwarded these pieces of evidence to the Scene of the Crime Operatives Regional Office and they are just waiting for the results.

He said they are also waiting for the results of the lie detector test of persons of interests to determine who among them could give a lead to the identity of the assailant or assailants.

Magalong added they are also doing background checks on the persons of interests identified.

He expressed they will continue the investigation along with case conferences to know the updates of the case as the days progressed.

Adams, 81, a legendary yacht designer, was found dead in his house in Alpha Ville Village of Barangay Tuding.

The victim was born in 1931 and became a legendary yacht designer in 1970s. He designed around 20 famous different yachts in Australia and New Zealand.

Procor’s initial investigation revealed Adam’s helper, Jose Pallay, found the victim’s body around 7:30 a.m. of October 15 seated on a sofa, lifeless.

The helper who is from Kiangan, Ifugao and a resident of Yanggacan, Tuding, was about to get his salary for cleaning the front area of the victim’s house when he noticed the main door was open and the lights were still on.

Pallay then entered and saw blood on the floor. He immediately reported to the barangay authorities, who likewise reported to the town’s police.

Policemen discovered the victim’s body sitting on a sofa in the living room. Adam’s sustained hack wounds on his left hand, right palm, and neck. The victim’s throat was also slit.