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Saturday, July 23, 2005
City jail warden shoots self
By Dante M. Fabian
ANGELES CITY -- The warden of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) district jail in Angeles City was found dead in his quarters with a bullet wound in his head Friday morning.
Elements of the Angeles City Police Office (Acpo) and Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) were still investigating the warden's death as of Friday afternoon.
BJMP sources identified the warden as Chief Jail Inspector Eric Eriquel, 33, single, a native of Agoo, La Union.
BJMP sources said Eriquel was absent during the morning count-off of inmates and a search led them to find him already dead in his sleeping quarters inside the jail.
A source said Eriquel's sister Beth and a brother arrived Friday morning accompanied by their uncle, the mayor of Agoo, La Union.
He said that through a text message sent at about 3:30 a.m. Friday, Eriquel asked his sister to fetch him at the jail and accompany him to a hospital in Metro Manila for a check up.
However, the source said when the family arrived at 7:30 a.m., they were shocked to learn of his death.
Sources said Eriquel had been anxious and deeply bothered by the investigation into the reported suicide death last week of an American inmate.
The sources also said officials of the US Embassy have requested local authorities to pursue a probe into the death of the American inmate.
Angeles police said Eriquel had been seeking out people who would help him with the US embassy regarding the investigation into the death of former US Navy man Michael Marlow Sherwood, 55, an American national and a resident of 151 Del Rosario Compound, Balibago, Angeles City.
Sherwood was found hanging from the ceiling of his cell inside the Angeles City District Jail (ACDJ) annex building.
Another inmate, a 46-year-old rape suspect identified as "Willie" from Barangay Pio, Porac, also allegedly committed suicide inside the jail last month.
BJMP sources said that Eriquel's death will be felt as a great loss to the agency.
It was learned that Eriquel, who holds a college degree in nursing, has implemented reforms in various aspects of the jail's operations that improved the living conditions of the inmates.
Eriquel was recently given the award for best district jail warden of the year in Region 3. (Sun.Star Pampanga/Sunnex)
(July 23, 2005 issue)
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