Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Raps set vs 2 suspects for cop's slay By Danilo V. Adorador III
CHARGES of aggravated murder will be filed against two suspects in the killing of a policeman over the weekend, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Northern Mindanao said Tuesday.
The suspects, 35-year-old Melvin E. Abaño and 59-year old Estrello S. Escobar, had been caught separately after the killing, which occurred at around 11 a.m. Saturday in a village near Bolonsori cemetery in Barangay Camaman-an.
Escobar, a driver-bodyguard of a department store owner where Abaño also worked as a guard, claimed responsibility for pumping around 15 bullets on Senior Police Officer 1 Fernando Gaabucayan Jr. said lawyer Alex Cabornay, NBI Northern Mindanao assistant regional director. Gaabucayan, it was learned, was assigned in the City Mobile Group (CMG).
But Escobar--who admitted that he and Abaño was in a drinking binge that time--alleged that it was Gaabucayan who fired the first shot and that he merely defended themselves thinking it was directed at them.
He said he and the victim had been neighbors for years, had not intended to kill the policeman, and his action may have been influenced by alcohol.
Cabornay said they were still verifying whether the victim had fired a shot as alleged, and were conducting autopsy to accurately determine how many shots the victim had sustained.
The weapon used--a high-capacity .45 caliber--was recovered when Abaño was arrested inside the department store he was working Monday. Estrello, meanwhile, was arrested Sunday.
Cabornay disclosed that while it was Estrello who fired the shots that killed Gaabucayan, the gun was in Abaño's possession at that time.
"He merely grabbed the gun from his companion and fired indiscriminately at the police officer," he told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
The gun is registered to the department store owner where the two suspects worked.
Cabornay said they were studying the filing of possible charges against the gun-owner. Charges of aggravated murder will be filed against the two anytime this week, he added.
