Here’s another case that I noticed in the Inquirer last year, mainly because the circumstances reminded me of one of stories in TRESE.
The two women were found burned in two separate motels. They were found two days apart.
The first woman was around 60 to 65 years old. She was found in Sweet Hotel at the corner of Rizal Avenue and C.M. Recto Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila in Room 320. The staff noticed thick smoke coming out of the room around 2am, which prompted them to open the door. In the room police found pink shorts, a yellow shirt with the name “Norma” on it, and a pair of beige shoes which could’ve belonged to the victim.
The second woman was around 30 to 35 years old. She found in Happy Inn Motel on Palma and Paterno Streets, Quiapo in Room 207. She was found naked on the bed, wrapped in a blanket. The body was found at 5:25pm. In the room, police found denim jeans, a pink belt, a pink T-shirt, yellow blouse, shoulder bag and rubber shoes that could have belonged to the victim.
In the autopsy, smoke was found in the lungs of both victims, indicating that they were burned alive.
Chief Insp. Dominador Arevalo, head of the Manila Police District homicide division, said the inability to identify both victims and the suspect made further investigation difficult. In a report posted on Feburary 29, 2007, the bodies were brought to Popular Funeral Homes and were not yet claimed.
The homicide chief said the crimes could have been done by the same person who was described as around 30-35-years old, male, about 5’6” in height. He reportedly stayed overnight in the motels with the victims. The artist’s sketches of the man in both incidents were similar, Arevalo said. In the case of the second victim, the room was registered in the name of Marvin Cachola.
So, were both crimes committed by the same unsub?
In both crimes, the witnesses saw the victims enter the motel with the unsub, which meant the victims knew the unsub. They trusted him enough to go with him into the room.
Was the first crime his “dress rehearsal”? Maybe the unsub chose an older victim, which he could easily subdue and the second victim was he intended target.
No other incidents were reported after those two victims.
Although, it is interesting to note that in the past year, there have been a lot of fires throughout the city. Is it possible that those fires were started by the same unsub and that there were victims that weren’t discovered because the fire burned up the whole building?
Below are links to the reports:
1
Badly burned body of woman found in hotel room
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080223-120654/Badly-burned-body-of-woman-found-in-hotel-room
By Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, First Posted 02/23/2008
2
Another woman burned in motel
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20080224-120937/Another-woman-burned-in-motel
By Allison Lopez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, First Posted 02/24/2008
3
Woman in motel fire burned alive
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080225-120979/Woman-in-motel-fire-burned-alive
By Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, First Posted 02/25/2008
4
Woman’s burned body found in motel
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080226-121192/Womans-burned-body-found-in-motel
By Tina Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, First Posted 02/26/2008
5
2 burned women found in motels remain unidentified
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20080229-121874/2-burned-women-found-in-motels-remain-unidentified
By Allison Lopez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, First Posted 02/29/2008
2 comments:
Y'know what I think? Unsub is a prostitute. However, he sees these women, his clients, as dirty and evil and the fires are both his way of cleansing them of their sins, and a way of getting rid of DNA evidence that could lead to him.
I'm curious how he was able to keep the first victim subdued long enough to stay in bed while she suffocated to death. The reports are sketchy whether she was drugged or tied up.
"Unsub is a prostitute."
Hmmm... interesting theory.
And yes, too bad we can't any more details about the crime scene. Only way to do that is to have a contact with the police who were assigned to the case.
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