BARELY 11 days after the brutal killing of a businessman in Bacolod City, another man was found dead in a sugarcane field in Barangay Pandanon Silos in Murcia town on Saturday morning, December 14.
The manner of killing was similar in both cases.
Police said a tricycle driver found the hogtied body with a gunshot wound to the head beside the road.
The victim's face was covered in plastic bound by duct tape and both hands and legs were tied with packing tape.
His arms bore the tattoos “Melvin Odicta” and “Christine.” Police said he was about 32 years old.
Major Robert Dejucos, town police chief, said they could not tell yet whether the victim was tortured before he was killed as they were still waiting for the postmortem examination.
“He [victim] was probably killed somewhere and was left there,” Dejucos said. No bullets were recovered at the crime scene.
The cadaver was brought to Rosadia Funeral Homes in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City.
Authorities are still trying to determine whether the incident was related to the killing of an abducted drug surrenderer in Bacolod City last week.
On December 3, Ontao Sacar, 66, a native of Marawi City, and temporarily residing in Barangay Mandalagan here, was killed by unidentified armed men.
Though the manner of the killing seems similar to the incident in Murcia, the police cannot yet conclude anything since they have yet to identify the victim.
“It could possibly be drug-related because of his tattoos,” Dejucos said.
It can be recalled that in 2016, Odicta, a suspected drug lord and his wife, alleged as the biggest illegal drug financers in Western Visayas, were shot dead at the Caticlan port in Malay, Aklan.
Investigation on the incident continues.