Suspected gunman, his driver, indicted for murder in Noe slay

The suspected gunman and his still unidentified driver, have recently been indicted for the murder of 68-year-old American Victor Noe in barangay Guadalupe last July 24.

The City Police homicide section filed the murder charge at the city prosecutor's office against Christopher Luna and his driver for allegedly shooting dead Noe and wounding the American's 35-year-old fiancee Catalina Cabanes.

Luna, carrying the alias Tope, has been identified as the alleged gunman through the police identikit or sketch, based on the witnesses' description of the man they allegedly saw shot Noe and Cabanes.

There were reports also that Luna was a gun-for-hire. His companion who drove the get-away motorcycle remained unidentified to this date but was already included in the indictment.

The victims were with Cabanes' two daughters and had just alighted from a cab on R. Duterte Street in Banawa, barangay Guadalupe when attacked.

The 11-year-old daughter of Cabanes saw the shooting and said the gunman was wearing a blue hood, which was taken off right after the shooting that gave her the chance to see the face of the man before he and a companion fled from the scene.

The girl positively identified Luna through the police sketch of the gunman and a photograph of Luna shown to her.

Cabanes was shot on her left temple but survived and is still recuperating at the hospital. Her wounds apparently affected her ability to communicate, which otherwise could have help the police in identifying the attackers and the motive of the attack.

Shortly after the shooting, residents saw the children weeping near the bodies of the victims. They helped Cabanes, who was then moaning from pain, and brought her to Chong Hua Hospital where she was operated.

Homicide investigator SPO3 Alex Dacua earlier said that the suspects could have been tailing the victims' cab, then staged their attack when the victims disembarked at Banawa.

Previous incidents at San Agustin Heights, where Noe and Cabanes have been residing, that could have linked Luna to the crime have been relayed to investigators already.

Two watchmen of the subdivision alleged that, last July 19, they saw Luna and an unidentified man entered the subdivision on a cab. They said the two men were the ones who went to Noe's house on July 17 causing Noe to complain to the president of the homeowners association.

Noe reportedly complained about the two unidentified men knocking on his door, citing security rules of the subdivision banning unauthorized visits from unidentified people.

The two watchmen said the confronted Luna and his companion about the earlier visit to Noe but later on Luna and his cohort never returned to the subdivision anymore.

After the shooting incident, these witnesses told the police with the information about Luna and his companion. Through this, the police theorized the suspect might be "casing" the couple at the time.

The homicide police subpoenaed Luna to shed light on the killing but he never appeared.

The indictment of Luna and his cohort was done although the police still found it difficult to find a link of the raw information they have with that of the possible motive of the mastermind in the killing, said SPO1 Jay Yballe, another homicide police.

The police have been looking into the details of the victims' properties, especially on a recent transaction involving millions worth of properties, but the police refused to elaborate on the matter.

Noe, reportedly a US Army veteran, and Cabanes were planning to get married next month. - Edwin Ian Melecio