Principal suspect in Zamboanga massacre confesses to crime

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A stay-in helper, a prime suspect in the massacre of a wealthy family of four and their three helpers, told police authorities who caught him and his companion that he was the lone perpetrator of the crime.

Rudy Putane, 19, admitted killing businesswoman Juliet Tan, her children Frederick, Christopher, and Catherine; and helpers identified only as Oliver, Lolita and Catherine. He cleared his companion, Jonard Buenaventura, of any involvement in the massacre.

Police investigators, however, doubt his claim.

Putane and Buenaventura were arrested in a safehouse in Barangay Lumbangan, east of this city, less than 24 hours after the crime was committed. The house is owned by a relative of Putane.

The victims’ bodies were discovered Thursday morning by the Tans’ family driver, Nelson Damian, when he reported for duty.

Chief Inspector Antonio Clarito, Zamboanga city police chief, said Putane’s confession does not mean that Buenaventura has been cleared as a possible suspect.

Buenaventura, who is out on probation, is a jeepney dispatcher in Barangay San Roque, five kilometers from the city proper. According to residents, Buenaventura — who has a reputation of being a neighborhood toughie — reportedly was wont to loiter in the vicinity of the Tans’ residence in the same barangay.

Clarito said they are digging deeper into several angles. Police investigators, he added, doubt Putane’s capability to eliminate the seven victims alone.

"It is still doubtful because some of his victims were bigger than him and we believe that there are still other people and other angles behind the gruesome murder," Clarito said.

Putane told police investigators that he was the one who clubbed and killed his victims one by one, using an iron bar and a kitchen knife, while inside the Tans’ house. The house is surrounded by a tall concrete fence.

"I got mad because the son of my employer slapped me and sometimes asked me to do work even when I am not feeling well," he told reporters.

Putane had been in the Tans’ employ for five months prior to the massacre. Tan, 46, distributed wine and owned mango and calamansi plantations.

Clarito said investigators are speeding up the processing and identification of fingerprints taken from the scene of the crime.