Inquirer report on woman burned in motel

Photo by Jenny Reyes, ABS-CBN News

Man charged for killing GRO in Pasig motel room
By Niña Calleja, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 20th, 2011
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/26689/man-charged-for-killing-gro-in-pasig-motel-room

The man accused of killing and burning the body of a woman inside a motel in Pasig City was charged on Wednesday with murder and arson at the city prosecutor’s office.

Case investigator Senior Police Officer 2 Rogelio Baltazar said Raymond Camarse, 44, a resident of Quezon City, was arrested after he was caught fleeing from the crime scene.

His victim was identified as Regine Fernandez, a 20-year-old guest relations officer at a hotel in Cebu City.

Her body was found inside a room in Country Lodge at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It was under a pile of burning clothes, a pair of sandals, parts of a wooden chair and glass shards.

The policeman said the victim had been stabbed to death.

“The fire was done to cover up the crime. Had the suspect fled undetected, the identity of the victim would still be unknown up to now,” Baltazar added.

Before the victim’s burnt body was discovered, the suspect was spotted hurriedly leaving the motel room and trying to start his car.

Sensing that something was wrong, an employee of the motel blocked his way with a movable metal fence.

The suspect, however, forced his way out of the motel on board his car but members of the barangay (village) security force and policemen who were alerted by suspicious motel staffers apprehended him just a few meters away from the entrance.

They found in the back seat of his vehicle the kitchen knife allegedly used in the killing as well as the victim’s identification cards.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no one has claimed the victim’s body, the police said.

The suspect, on the other hand, remains detained at the Pasig police headquarters.

Baltazar said the suspect told him that the victim was his mistress and that he had tried to break up with her.

Earlier reports, however, said that the woman was killed because she wanted out of the relationship.

Here's a link to the first reports about the crime from ABS-CBN and GMA News:
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2011/07/woman-murdered-burned-inside-motel.html

Which makes me wonder: was this murder premeditated? Based on this report, it does sound like the suspect panicked and used whatever was at the scene to commit the crime. (Although, I still wonder where he got the kerosene.) The suspect panicked and was supposedly seen hurrying out of the motel and that's why the staff got suspicious on his actions.

Could this suspect be the same person who committed these crimes back in 2008:
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2008/09/firestarter.html

The victim's face was wrapped in packaging tape

Man killed; body thrown into river
By Jeannette Andrade, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 06/20/2010


The decomposing body of a man was fished out of the Pasig River in Manila before dawn on Sunday.

Manila Police District homicide section investigators described the still unidentified half-naked victim as between 25 and 37 years old, 5’6” tall and of medium build.

His head was wrapped in packaging tape while his hands and feet were tied.

Case investigator Police Officer 3 Jaime Gonzales said in his report that a green towel was looped around the victim’s neck.

Gonzales added that the body was discovered floating in the river at around 3:45 a.m. yesterday near the Del Pan Elliptical Road in Ermita.

(It's interesting to note that in the past couple of years, victims have been found with their faces wrapped in packaging tape, their hands and feet bound, but this is the first time a body has been found floating in the Pasig. They are usually found dumped in some street corner. I wonder what makes this victim different. I also wonder if this victim also had stab wounds/gun shot wounds and if he had gang tattoos, like all the others.)

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20100620-276653/Man-killed-body-thrown-into-river

Dead woman found in Pasig River

Woman’s body fished out of Pasig
reported by Tina G. Santos, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 05/26/2010
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20100526-272220/Womans-body-fished-out-of-Pasig

A decomposing body of a woman was fished out of the Pasig River after it was discovered by passengers on board a ferry boat Wednesday morning in Manila.

Police described the still unidentified woman to be about 25 to 30 years old, about 5’2” to 5’4” in height and clad in a red blouse, black bra and gray underwear.

Police added that the body of the victim was already in an advanced state of decomposition.

Investigation showed that the body was discovered floating around 6 a.m. Wednesday near Saltug Compound in Barangay 900 Zone 100 in Punta, Sta. Ana.

The ferry boat, filled with about 20 to 30 passengers, was cruising along the river off the shore of Saltug Compound when they saw the body, which they at first thought to be a dead dolphin.

Police said the captain of the ferry boat immediately informed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) of their find.

Is the Garbage Collector back?

Body in sack fished out of Pasig, By Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 02/26/2010

The body of an unidentified street gang member, believed to be a victim of summary execution, was found Friday morning stuffed into a sack and dumped in the Pasig River in Manila.

Manila Police District homicide section investigators described the man to be between 45 and 55 years old, 5-foot-7 inches tall, fair-skinned, of medium build and with several front teeth missing. He wore a green t-shirt, black short pants and bore the Commando gang tattoo on his body.

The Commando gang is usually composed of members who have been charged with crimes and have been jailed.

The corpse, which was stuffed head first into a violet rice sack, was found with a towel and brown packaging tape wrapped around the head, steel wire lopped around the neck and feet, and hands bound with plastic straw.

(And I continue to wonder if this crime to related to these ... http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/search/label/packaging%20tape)

PO2 Gerry Amores of the MPD homicide section said the body was fished out of the portion of the Pasig River along Muelle del Industria Street, Barangay 282 Zone 26, in Binondo at around 6:40 a.m.

Amores said the floating sack, with the feet of the victim jutting out, was first spotted by a concerned citizen who immediately informed SPO3 Reynaldo San Andres of the Lawton outpost of the MPD Ermita station 5.

REPORT FROM : http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20100226-255501/Body-in-sack-fished-out-of-Pasig

Another vigilante?

Reynaldo Q. Bartolome, 33, was found dead on Urbano Velasco Avenue in the village of Pinagbuhatan in the early morning of Tuesday. Hanging around his neck was a piece of cardboard with the message (in Filipino): "Don't be like me. I am a notorious drug pusher. I'm the man of Macmac Payapa." The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the head, and that his killing could be the work of vigilantes.

Reported by : DJ Yap, Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090210-188557/Another-vigilante-victim-found

This might be the work of another vigilante or group of vigilantes. The victim did not have any stab wounds and was not placed in a trash bag, like in the other killings.

Still, why does there seem to be increase in vigilante-style killings lately?