AN alleged hitman of a known drug personality was among those who shot dead Annalou Llaguno, who was connected to two suspected drug lords in the Visayas, last Friday, police said.
Supt. Ryan Devaras, chief of the Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB), said they now have the name of Llaguno’s gunman.
"Gisigurado gyud. Ang first nga nipusil naa sa tunga. Ang nipusil og kaduha kadtong natumba na siya katong naa sa likod, mao ang nitiwas (They made sure she’d be dead. The first gunman was the one in the middle. The one who shot her twice when she was already on the ground was the backrider),” Devaras said.
Investigators are looking into two angles, one is drug-related while the other is personal grudge.
“Wala siya'y records sa drugs sa mga station commanders. Angle sa pagpatay i-validate pa kung drug-related or personal grudge because she was related to two big-time drug lords (She doesn’t have any drug records in all police stations in Cebu City. We’ll still check if it was drug-related or because of a personal grudge),” the IDMB chief said.
Based on the police’s records, Llaguno did not have any cases related to drugs. But because of her affiliation to Kerwin Espinosa, suspected drug lord in Eastern Visayas, and Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz, considered to be Cebu’s biggest drug lord, it had been looked into.
Tipped
As for the possibility of a personal grudge, Devaras said they have received information that Llaguno was the one who tipped the operatives off on the whereabouts of Diaz in Las Piñas City.
This is a possible reason for members of Diaz’s drug to exact revenge against Llaguno. But intelligence operatives are still validating this.
When asked if the hitman was from Diaz’s drug group, Devaras said it is possible.
“Could be,” he said.
Devaras ruled out the possibility that the victim was ambushed because of reports that she was carrying P200,000 in a bag.
Money
“The first responder had not found that amount of money from the victim’s possession,” he said.
Devaras said they will verify if Llaguno was legally married to Espinosa.
According to relatives of the victim who were interviewed by police, Espinosa wedded Llaguno inside the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center, now Cebu City Jail, in 2006, but that they were not sure if it was legal.
The cartographic sketch of the gunman who went back to shoot Llaguno for the second time was released by the Homicide section.
This gunman was not wearing any helmet and was seen by a witness.
Operatives are also checking if there are close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on Carlock St. where the crime took place.
Llaguno and her 21-year-old boyfriend, John Joseph Romarate, were riding on a scooter from her apartment in Barangay Pasil when they were ambushed by three men on board a motorcycle.
“Gisundan gyud to sila (They were followed),” he said.
Two of the assailants remain unidentified while police are withholding the name of the identified gunman.
Sun.Star Cebu tried to interview the Llaguno family but they begged off.
“Please respect our privacy,” a relative said.
Llaguno’s remains lay at the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes.
She was the niece of the slain ‘drug lord’ Cresostomo “Tata Negro” Llaguno, who ran for Cebu City councilor and was also shot dead in 2010.