HE surrendered to clear his name, saying he did not kill the woman found stuffed in a box left in a house in Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City. The police, however, believe otherwise.
Despite his repetitive denials after surrendering to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 late Tuesday afternoon, Emedelio Salvador will be facing a murder complaint to be filed soon by the police.
Salvador said he surrendered not only to tell the police about his innocence, but also to point to three other suspects in the death of 21-year-old Merymie Caburnay.
He claimed he only helped in hauling the box from Cebu City to Lapu-Lapu, but not in killing her.
“Dili na tinuod, sir, uy; suod tawon to sa akong asawa bayhana. Niboluntaryo ko’g anhi aron madakpan ang tinuod nga nagpatay (I certainly did not kill her; she’s a close friend of my wife. I surrendered so that the real killer will be arrested),” Salvador said in an interview.
He mentioned three names of possible suspects, but neither his story nor the names sounds real and consistent, according to Senior Supt. Marlon Tayaba, chief of the CIDG 7.
“May mga tao siyang tinuturo (as principal suspects), but we conduct validation lumalabas na ang mga taong sinasabi niya are non-existent (He mentioned names of other suspects, but our validation showed those personalities do not exist at all),” he said.
As Salvador continued to belie accusations that he was one of the primary suspects in the murder of Caburnay, a jeepney driver arrived yesterday at the CIDG 7 Headquarters in Camp Sotero Cabahug to confirm Salvador’s identity.
Witness
Antonio Mulig, driver of a 06A-route jeepney, said a man flagged him down last Friday morning to ask if he could rent his jeepney for a short ride worth P300. The man asked Mulig to carry a box from a house in Oprra, Kalunasan to his vehicle before the ride.
Mulig confirmed it was Salvador who flagged him down. He recalled that Salvador had one male companion that time.
“They told me the box contained speakers and sound equipment used for fiestas, so I didn’t budge,” Mulig said in Cebuano.
When the jeepney reached somewhere in Valley Front, Mulig said, the men alighted from the jeepney and brought the box down with them.
That moment Mulig heard something odd from the box. “Duna may kagay-kagay sa lawom sa (There’s a strange noise in the) box,” he recalled.
Four days have passed since the body of Caburnay, a resident of Barangay Kalunasan in Cebu City, was found slumped in a box left in the house of Arnel Degamo in Lapu-Lapu.
Motive
As to the motive, Tayaba said this could be related to robbery, although a through investigation has yet to be completed.
Caburnay reportedly had rented a room in a boarding house owned by Salvador’s parents.
Salvador told the police he decided to surrender also after receiving death threats.