But the prime suspect, PO1 Elmer Buena, 33, assigned at the mobile division of the Central Police District (CPD) Station 2 in Baler St., vehemently denied having a hand in the killing of his wife, Ma. Morena, 33, of 4-B Sinag St., Barangay Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City.
Superintendent Cipriano Querol Jr., Marikina City police chief said circumstancial evidence pointed to Bueno as the killer of his wife.
However, Querol said they are still waiting for the results of the DNA test on the strands of hair recovered from the victim’s fingernails which could strengthen the parricide case they intend to file against the suspect.
The body of Mrs. Buena was found under the bridge along Marcos Highway in Barangay Calumpang last March 13. She was wearing a striped sleeveless shirt and was naked below the waist. Her maong pants and pink panties were found under her feet.
Mrs. Buena was shot in the left ear, the bullet exiting at the back of her head. Police recovered a slug and an empty shell from a 9mm automatic pistol from the crime scene.
The involvement of her policeman-husband in her death came after the victim’s cousin, Vivian Pagtalon, 32, surfaced at the Marikina City police station last Friday and identified Mrs. Buena’s body.
Before leaving their house, Pagtalon said Mrs. Buena told her that she would confront her husband that same day over family problems.
"She told me that whatever happens to her, it would be her husband who was the culprit," said Pagtalon in the vernacular. Mrs. Buena also confided that Elmer warned her not to reveal to anybody that she was meeting him the same day.
Police prober SPO2 Virgilio Cayetano said Bueno failed to report for work on the day his wife was killed. Cayetano waited for him until he showed up Saturday night and was immediately placed under arrest.
The couple and their son were living happily in Mandaluyong City until Bueno was drafted into the police force in 1998.
The suspect was able to convince his wife to bring their son and live with her parents in Iloilo. Police said the suspect gave only P2,000 monthly to his family, prompting Mrs. Buena to return to Manila on December 2000.
Because Bueno seldom goes home or stays only for a few hours in their residence, the suspecting victim conducted an investigation and learned that he was maintaining a paramour.
Armed with her findings, she filed a complaint against him with the Internal Affairs Office of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Though he denied killing his wife, Bueno refused to cooperate in the investigation like giving a sample of his hair for comparison with those recovered from his wife’s fingernails, said Querol.
Bueno’s service firearm is coincidentally a 9mm automatic pistol.