THE seven month old case for rape and killing of a 10-year-old girl in Murcia is solved with the arrest of the suspect whose DNA matched with the specimen recovered from the victim's remains.
Police identified the arrested as 21-year-old Edgie Gonzaga, a resident of Barangay San Miguel of the said town.
Mayor Gerry Rojas said Gonzaga was arrested last week for illegal drugs charges.
Rojas explained based on medical findings from the remains of the victim, they recovered "sperm function" from the victim's genitalia, and a DNA test later proved it belonged to Gonzaga.
"It took us seven months to solve the case," Rojas said.
Murcia town police chief Police Major Robert Dejucos, said the DNA results were released last Sunday from Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.
Due to the findings, Dejucos said they would be filing rape with homicide charges against Gonzaga.
Despite the solid evidences presented against him, however, Gonzaga continued to deny the allegations.
Although Gonzaga was already placed under police custody, Rojas ordered Dejucos to continue investigating the case in order to determine if there were other suspects in the crime.
On October 30 of last year, the 10-year-old victim was found dead in a sugarcane field at the Barangay San Miguel of the same town.
A subsequent autopsy of the remains revealed she suffered broken bones on her legs, and injuries on her head.
Police initially believed Gonzaga, the victim's father, and four other individuals were involved in the crime and were subjected to DNA examination.