THE man who may have knowledge of the murder of a 14-year-old girl in a mountain village in Pinamungajan, Cebu has been taken into police
custody.
Pinamungajan Police Station Chief Felicisimo Aranas Jr. said his personnel fetched the suspect from the house of the latter’s mother in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City past 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019.
Investigators have yet to determine if the man, whose name was not disclosed by Aranas, was the killer of Justine Andayop. The suspect would be released if there is not enough evidence against him.
Around 8 a.m. last Monday, Oct. 14, the suspect took a bath while Andayop’s relatives were looking for her in Sitio Caimito, Barangay Guimbawian.
A sibling was puzzled when the suspect took a bath in the morning as the latter often washed himself late in the day.
The suspect hurriedly left the village after Andayop’s body was found in a bushy area in Caimito. His siblings then searched for him; they found him in their mother’s house in Lahug. Their mother works as a security guard at the Cebu IT Park.
In an interview with the police, the suspect denied killing Andayop, saying he had been harvesting mangoes and tomatoes in different barangays in Pinamungajan at the time.
“We will check the places he claimed that he had visited before the girl’s body was found,” Aranas said in Cebuano.
Aranas said there is no witness who saw the actual murder of the girl. A neighbor, though, saw the suspect sharpening his bolo last Sunday, Oct. 13. The suspect said he used the bolo in cutting branches of trees.
Investigators recovered from the suspect a shirt with traces of blood. This will be subjected to a deoxyribonucleic acid examination at the Philippine National Police-Criminal Laboratory 7.
A cell phone was also recovered from the suspect. This will be forwarded to the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Office 7 for examination. (From AYB, BBT of SuperBalita Cebu, KAL)