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

Woman murdered, burned inside motel

A REPORT BY JENNY REYES, ABS-CBN NEWS http://twitter.com/jennyfreyes
http://rp1.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/07/19/11/woman-killed-burned-inside-pasig-motel

A woman was killed and her body was burned inside a motel room allegedly by her boyfriend, police said Tuesday.

Pasig City police chief Senior Superintendent Jesse Cardona said the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. at a room of the Country Lodge Motel.

The 20-year-old victim, who hails from Cebu, was burned almost beyond recognition. Cardona identified the victim through an ID card as Regine Fernandez, a native of Cebu City and an employee of the Cebu Waterfront Hotel.

She was stabbed 3 times and her neck was slashed, investigators said.

The suspect, 44-year-old Raymond Camarse, was arrested while he was trying to escape from the crime scene.

He was nabbed because his car broke down outside the motel.

Police found a suitcase filled with clothes and a knife inside the suspect's car.

Camarse is believed to have poured either kerosene or gasoline on the woman's body after killing her.

Firefighters said they thought the case was a simple fire incident until they discovered the women's charred body on the bed.

Motel employees said Camarse and the woman checked in 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

They later noticed thick smoke coming from the couple's room and called for help from firefighters.

Senior Police Officer 2 Roger Baltazar said motel staff also became suspicious because Camarse suddenly checked out without the woman.

The suspect told police that he wanted to break up with the woman but the victim refused, Chief Inspector Roderick Tonga said.

Police are now trying to contact the victim's relatives.

Other details taken from:
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/226759/nation/woman-found-dead-burned-inside-pasig-motel


Could this case be connected to the 2008 murders, where two women were also found burned in motel rooms?
http://metrocrimescene.blogspot.com/2008/09/firestarter.html

Woman killed and set on fire

Taguig cops find woman’s body set on fire
reported by Niña Catherine Calleja

THE BODY of a still unidentified woman, who may have been killed earlier according to police, was set on fire on the sidewalk of C5 road in Taguig City Monday past midnight. Police Officer 2 Allan Corpus, Taguig police investigator, said mobile patrol men were making the rounds in Barangay Fort Bonifacio at around 12:30 p.m. when they noticed a fire across the street near McKinley Hill Village.

Upon checking it, the lawmen were taken aback to find out a burning body of a woman. Corpus said the face of the woman was already beyond recognition after the police put out the fire.

The woman, wearing black upper undergarment and short pants, may be killed first before she was set on fire for the purpose of hiding the crime, Corpus said. Police found four cigarette butts and a folded shirt reeking of flammable fluid, Corpus said.

REPORT FROM THE INQUIRER:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090916-225391/Metrobriefs

an UPDATED report by Marlon Ramos

A “trained killer” could be behind the gruesome slaying of a still unidentified woman whose charred body was found near an upscale subdivision on C-5 Road in Taguig City the other day, police said Wednesday.

Senior Supt. Camilo Cascolan, Taguig police chief, said the assailant crushed the woman’s hands before setting the victim on fire apparently to destroy her fingerprints and hide the crime.

He added that it was possible that the victim knew her killer.

“With the way she was murdered, the killer may have been very angry with her. The killer also seemed to know how to hide the crime because the victim’s fingerprints were completely destroyed,” Cascolan said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090916-225583/Trained-killer-may-be-behind-C-5-Road-slay

Woman allegedly sets self on fire

"Woman trader allegedly sets self on fire" By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090909-224403/Woman-trader-allegedly-sets-self-on-fire

A businesswoman having deep financial troubles allegedly set herself ablaze while driving her car with her stepdaughter still inside the vehicle Wednesday morning in Rodriguez town, the police said.

But the police said they were not yet prepared to declare the case of Antonia Golez, 58, a widow, as a suicide pending the results of the crime scene investigation and the questioning of the victim’s stepdaughter Princess Rose Ann, 18.

Based on the initial report, at about 8:42 a.m. Golez was driving her Nissan sedan, with plate number TMD -729, along a zigzag road in Barangay San Jose, with Princess in the passenger seat, when the victim allegedly reached for a gasoline container.

Princess told investigators her stepmother doused herself with gasoline and set herself on fire using a lighter while the car was still moving, said Supt. Felipe Abigan Jr., chief of the Rodriguez police.

“Princess escaped by jumping out of the car. When she came to us, she had bruises on her body,” Abigan said.

Eyewitnesses told investigators that “there was no attempt” on the part of Golez to get out of the car, the official said.

Golez, who had a transport business in the town, was reportedly depressed about her financial problems.

The two had gone on a trip to Quezon City to borrow money from someone and were on their way back home when the incident occurred, Abigan said. “Princess said they were not quarreling and were just having a normal conversation when it happened,” he said.

After Golez set herself ablaze, Princess jumped out of the moving car which kept going until it stopped when it hit the gutter, Abigan said.

Firefighters came too late to rescue the businesswoman, who was burned beyond recognition. The car was also totally razed. A scene-of-the-crime operations team processed the scene.

As of press time, Princess was still being held and questioned at the Rodriguez police station. Abigan said she would be released once the investigators had ruled out any foul play in the case.

The Firestarter

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