Masked Gunman

A 27-year-old man was shot dead by a masked gunman here on Wednesday evening, raising suspicion that a copycat of the shadowy vigilante group blamed for the deaths of at least 900 people in Southern Mindanao since 1990s has become active anew.

Al Amen Magarang Abdullah was playing computer games inside an Internet café along First Crumb St. here around 9:30 p.m. when the gunman arrived with another companion and shot him dead, Chief Inspector Anthony Padua, city police director, said.

Quoting witnesses, Padua said the gunman casually entered the Internet café' and shot Magarang. He said the gunman left without a fuss and fled onboard the motorcycle driven by his companion. He said the victim died instantly.

Police investigators said they recovered two slugs and two spent shells of a .45 caliber pistol from the crime scene.

Some residents, who spoke to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said Abdullah's death could be the handiwork of the so-called Digos Death Squad.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20090723-216895/Man-shot-dead-in-Internet-caf-in-Digos

Murder in the Manila City Jail

Woman visiting lover in jail found dead
By Jeannette Andrade

A 25-year-old woman was strangled to death late Wednesday afternoon allegedly by her detained common-law husband during her conjugal visit at the Manila City Jail (MCJ).

Joan Fernandez, of Interior 60, Zamora Street in Pandacan, was found dead inside one of the conjugal visit rooms of the detention facility in Sta. Cruz, just minutes after her live-in partner Nelson Danao, 24, left her and returned to his cell at dormitory 2 where he is held for a robbery charge.

Police Officer 2 Jaime Gonzales of the Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section said that Fernandez’s body was found at around 3:45 p.m. by MCJ inmate Eduardo Ruban who maintains the conjugal visit room.

READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090723-216891/Woman-visiting-lover-in-jail-found-dead

White Lady causes bus accident?

FROM GMA NEWS http://www.gmanews.tv/story/166917/Report-White-lady-blamed-for-bus-crash

A mythical White Lady was blamed for an accident involving a passenger bus that went out control and crashed in the northern Philippine city of Tuguegarao, a radio report said Wednesday.

Bombo Radyo reported at least one passenger was injured in the incident involving the bus (BVB-535) plying the route between Tuguegarao and Santiago City.

Bus driver Rogelio Gaspar said a long-haired woman in white suddenly showed up in his path, prompting him to swerve to avoid hitting her. He said he lost control of the bus.

A local resident, Nonong Decena, said several road accidents had happened in the area, with motorists saying they tried to swerve to avoid hitting the White Lady.

Decena’s claim could not be immediately confirmed with the police.

Kilabot ng Quiapo

Another dead body found in black trash bag. 

(see: The Garbage Collector)

Could all these killings be connected or are they are copycats?




In Inquirer's report: The body of a man, believed to be a victim of summary execution, was found in Manila’s Quiapo district early Friday morning, police said.

The victim was described to be between 25 and 28 years old, about 5'5" to 5'6" in height, of medium built and with "J.R. Sebastian" tattoo on the chest and with a "Sigue-sigue" gang marking on his back, police said.

The body, which bore 29 stab wounds in the chest, hogtied and his face covered with masking tape, was found inside a black garbage bag along Quezon Boulevard underpass in Quiapo, Manila around 5 a.m., police said.

Also found beside the victim's body was a paper written with the words "Kilabot ng Quiapo."

29 stab wounds?

That must have been made by one angry unsub or by several attackers.


READ THE COMPLETE REPORT AT:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090703-213705/Body-with-29-stab-wounds-found-in-Quiapo

AND AT:

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=483561&publicationSubCategoryId=65

NOTE: photo above from the Philippine Star

The Ruby Rose Murder

Mafia-style murder: Steel drum, cement
http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20090612-210050

It took more than two hours for crime laboratory experts from Camp Crame to remove just the first layer of what served as Ruby Rose Jimenez’s tomb: A well-soldered steel barrel filled with concrete and encased in another welded steel box.

Another couple more hours or so were spent cutting open the light blue-colored drum, where the remains of the missing Ruby Rose were eventually found, immersed in soggy concrete.

“The entire thing, including the cement, probably weighed about a ton,” said an officer from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak with the media.

Counting the hours they spent prying open the tightly sealed container on Wednesday afternoon, experts believed that Ruby Rose’s killers had meticulously prepared for her disappearance with the intention that she would never be found.

“Whoever was behind it really worked on it. The steel casings were welded,” said the officer.

The metal box was fished out of Navotas waters in Manila Bay the other day by local police following a tip from a suspect, who wanted to turn state witness in exchange for a lesser punishment.

A fishing magnate is a key suspect in the Mafia-style murder.

Ruby Rose disappeared on March 14, 2007, after a bitter custody dispute with her estranged husband for their two children.

Last week, police arrested one of seven suspects, said Metro Manila police commander Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales.

CIDG tapped to speed up Ruby Rose slay probe
The Philippine National Police has tapped its Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to speed up the investigation of the Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez slay case, a Mafia-style murder that sent shock waves across the law enforcement community.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090616-210720/CIDG-tapped-to-speed-up-Ruby-Rose-slay-probe


Witness says 5 killers were paid P250,000
The five men who carried out the gangland-style execution of Ruby Rose Barrameda-Jimenez each received P50,000 from the in-laws of the victim, a suspect-turned-state witness told police.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090615-210490/Witness-says-5-killers-were-paid-P250000

7 suspects in Barrameda slay summoned
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090616-210715/7-suspects-in-Barrameda-slay-summoned

Ruby Rose father-in-law, 6 others face murder charges
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Thursday said they are preparing the murder complaints against the father-in-law, lawyer Manuel Jimenez II and his brother, Lope Jimenez. Also facing charges are Eric Fernandez, Spike Discalzo, Roberto Ponce alias Abet, Rudy de la Cruz and Manuel Montero.

Montero is the informant who led police into discovering the metal box containing Ruby Rose’s body buried at the bottom of the Manila Bay.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/164718/Ruby-Rose-father-in-law-6-others-face-murder-charges

DOJ: Testimony of Ruby Rose murder witness strong
Newly-appointed Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said Saturday that the police has a very strong case against a fishing magnate who has been charged with murder for the gruesome killing of a former actress' sister two years ago.

"It's very difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the drum... On the basis of what the police have gathered, merong malakas na ebidensya (there is a strong evidence)," Devanadera said in an interview over radio dzMM, referring to Manuel Montero, a suspect-turned-witness in the killing of Ruby Rose Jimenez, sister of former actress Rochelle Barrameda.

Montero told police that Jimenez was strangled to death and then her body was placed inside a rectangular steel case filled with cement.

The steel case was loaded into a ship with the use of a forklift and then dumped into the seawaters of Navotas.

The suspect's confession led to the recovery of the body of Jimenez, who went missing in March 2007 while on her way to visit her two children, whose custody has been given by the court to her husband, Manuel "Third" Jimenez III.

MORE BODIES
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the lead law enforcement unit handling the case, said Friday that Montero has admitted that their group was also responsible in several other Mafia-style killings.

Chief Superintendent Roberto Rosales, NCRPO chief, said Montero is guiding them in the recovery of the bodies, also stuffed in drums and encases in cement.

“We received reports that the group are behind other killings so we are validating them. Our witness is helping us in pinpointing the exact location of the bodies,” said Rosales, noting that majority of the supposed victims are business rivals of shipping magnate Lope Jimenez.

Rosales said that after the discovery of Ruby Rose’s body, prominent families have contacted him, claiming Jimenez and his group may have something to do with the killing of their next of kin.

“We are uncovering more killings allegedly authored by the same suspects. I’m asking these relatives to come to my office so we could discuss the cases,” he said.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/06/13/09/doj-testimony-ruby-rose-murder-witness-strong