Sunday, March 09, 2008 Suspect says he killed Ruby
THE man who may have killed a nursing student last Thursday, over her cell phone, is in police custody for a separate offense.
Senior Insp. Eddie Castañeda, Subangdaku Police Station chief, said that 40-year old Rey Bayabado was caught extorting P50,000 from truck driver Rodolfo Bohol, 25, last Thursday night.
The victim was on his way home when the suspect accosted him.
Bayabado allegedly told Bohol that he had been paid P30,000 to kill the driver. But if Bohol gave him P50,000, he would spare the latter’s life.
Bayabado also allegedly told Bohol’s wife Genalyn that he had killed a nursing student earlier that day and would not hesitate to do the same to her husband if they refused to meet his demand.
Entrapment
Earlier that day, Ruby Jade Ruba, 20, was walking with a friend along Gov. Roa St. in Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City when a man grabbed her cell phone and shot her. Ruba would have graduated with a nursing degree from Cebu Doctors’ University on March 30.
In the Subangdaku case, Bohol reportedly told the suspect to give him and his wife time to raise the amount.
He then sought the help of Castañeda, who immediately directed his deputy chief to accompany Bohol to the latter’s home in Sitio Mahusay.
Bayabado returned around 11 p.m. and was handed what looked like a bundle of money. When he accepted it, Insp. George Aniñon and his men, who were hiding nearby, arrested him.
Seized from Bayabado were two cellular phones and a .38 revolver.
Castañeda is currently checking if one of the phones belonged to Ruba.
Denial
When the suspect was brought to the station for investigation, he denied killing the 20-year-old graduating student.
But Castañeda still subjected him to a paraffin test to determine if he fired a gun recently. The police chief also ordered a ballistic examination on Bayabado’s revolver to find out if it was the same gun used to kill Ruba.
Castañeda said they are preparing a complaint for robbery and extortion with the use of an unlicensed gun against Bayabado.
However, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador said that Bayabado is not yet considered a suspect until evidence linking him to the fatal robbery is obtained.
“We are still checking on his possible involvement in the killing,” Comendador said.
Bayabado will also be presented to the key witness.
The CCPO Homicide Section picked up Bayabado from the Subangdaku Police Station in Mandaue City for tactical interrogation.
Bayabado, who denied any involvement in Ruba’s killing, agreed to undergo a paraffin test yesterday to prove his innocence.
Record
Weeping in an interview with reporters, he also denied that the confiscated gun belonged to him.
“Kon ako gyud ilang pasanginlan ani, ihikog ko na (If they pin that robbery on me, I will use this gun to kill myself),” Bayabado said.
He added he used to be an active member of the Barangay Intelligence Network of the CCPO’s Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) and has been working as an asset for a policeman detailed at the Police Regional Office 7 headquarters.
Bayabado, however, admitted he was kicked out from the BIN after he was accused of robbing and mauling a resident of Sitio Almacin, Calamba, Cebu City in April last year. The victim lost a Seiko diver’s wristwatch worth P7,500.
The CCPO, through the TRS, then filed complaints of robbery with physical injuries against Bayabado and his two other cohorts, also BIN members.
Bayabado and nine other BIN members, who were also kicked out from the group, were accosted by police on Bantayan Island last May for wearing shirts marked “CCPO” during the election period.
Charges
During the interview yesterday, Bayabado, who had a wound on his kneecap, claimed he was mauled in Mandaue City but declined to say by whom.
Meanwhile, Comendador said the mother of robbery suspect Isabelo Fernandez has every right to file a complaint against the arresting police operatives whom she accused of mauling her son.
Isabelo’s mother visited Sun.Star Cebu last Friday night to relay her son’s claim that he was tortured inside the CCPO so that he and his companion Leonardo dela Cruz would admit to killing Ruba.
Fernandez and dela Cruz were earlier arrested in the robbery of a Dutch national, which also happened last Thursday dawn, more than two hours after Ruba was shot.
Comendador said the CCPO will build up their case with material evidence and not just rely on an extra-judicial confession from a suspect.
In most cases, suspects who make extra-judicial confessions during an investigation usually change their statement when presented in court, Comendador said. (OCP/JST)
