Monday, November 26, 2007
Handcuffed ‘John Doe’ found dead in mountain barangay
A STILL unidentified man, his face, hands and feet bound in packaging tape, was found dead in the mountain barangay of Babag, Cebu City yesterday dawn.
When the Homicide Section policemen removed the tape, they saw that his wrists were cuffed.
SPO2 Jay Yballe said the man, clad in a light orange shirt and gray shorts, was around 5’4” to 5’5” tall and had several gunshot wounds in the head, arms and stomach.
Yballe said that until they can identify the victim, they cannot proceed with the investigation because they found no witnesses.
The man’s personal background will give authorities leads in the investigation, he added.
The man carried no identification card. The police has yet to check if he has any distinguishing marks such as tattoos or scars.
Yballe said it was too dark and muddy to check in the area where the body was discovered.
Antonio Bolocano, Babag barangay councilor, told homicide investigators that at 2 a.m., they heard several gunshots followed by the sound of a running motorcycle in Sitio Maling.
The victim was found lifeless an hour after.
The police recovered three empty .45 pistol shells and three empty 9mm pistol shells from the crime scene, and found motorcycle tire marks nearby.
Yballe already requested the Regional Crime Laboratory to perform an autopsy on the victim and lift latent fingerprints for possible identification.
The victim’s body is at the Cebu Rolling Hills Funeral Homes in Banilad, Mandaue City.
Pacifists
In Lower San Roque, Barangay Bulacao also yesterday, a man was shot when he tried to stop a neighbor from getting into trouble.
Alexander Phala Alfafara, 23, and a friend were on their way home at 4:30 a.m. when he saw Arnold Heruella arguing with someone.
When Alfafara tried to stop him, Heruella allegedly got angry, pulled out a handgun, and shot him in the neck before fleeing.
An hour earlier in Sitio Ponce, Barangay Carreta, a vegetable vendor and his friend were wounded when a man fired a gun but missed his target.
Genaro Regala, 32, and his wife Jessica were drinking at a store when a certain Lising Legaspi arrived with a gun.
Legaspi was reportedly looking for a man named Ojie, whom he tried to shoot at.
Regala attempted to stop Legaspi but was instead shot in the right forearm.
When Regala told Legaspi that he was wounded, the suspect did not back off and instead threatened him.
“Hutdon ta mong tanan (I’ll kill you all),” Legaspi allegedly warned.
At this, Legaspi’s wife, Inday, arrived and grabbed the gun.
But it went off and hit Regala in the left ankle.
Jaime Mercado, 37, who watched as the confrontation unfolded, was also hit in the upper left arm. He and Regala were brought to the Cebu City Medical Center while Legaspi escaped. (MEA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 26, 2007 issue)
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