Lotto winner jailed

Police arrested a winner of a P38-million lotto jackpot after a hired gunman pointed to him as the mastermind in the killing of a suspected drug pusher in Marikina City last Monday.

The suspect, Luisito de los Reyes, alias Lito, a native of Candelaria, Quezon was picked up by men of Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Marikina City police chief, in Barangay Malanday hours after the triggerman, Ramil Gonzales, 36, confessed to the crime.

Rojas said De los Reyes refused to issue any statement but they have strong evidence linking him to the killing of his neighbor, Johnny Tuaño, 31, of 15 Barnet street, Parkland Subdivision in Barangay Malanday.

Police said De los Reyes won P38 million in the lotto draw of September 2002. He used his winnings to construct a bungalow in Parkland Subdivision, where he and his family are now residing.

Senior Inspector Armando Ponce, chief of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Marikina City police, said Tuaño was watching a billiard game at a billiard hall along I. Jocson street in Barangay Malanday when Gonzales appeared from nowhere at about 2 p.m. last Monday.

Gonzales pulled out a caliber 9mm Jericho automatic pistol and opened fire at the unsuspecting Tuaño. The victim, sustained seven gunshot wounds in the body and died on the spot.

Bystanders who were attracted by the gunshots ran after the fleeing Gonzales and cornered him before he could open fire at them. He yielded the weapon along with two loaded magazines.

Gonzales was turned over to the custody of the responding Special Weapons and Tactics team.

During tactical interrogation, Gonzales admitted his role in Tuaño’s slay and pointed to De los Reyes as the mastermind.

The lotto winner did not resist arrest when he was "fetched" by Ponce and his men from his house, hours after the confession of Gonzales.

Tuaño’s cousin, a certain Marikit Gonzales, 39, claimed the victim told her days before his death that he feared for his life.

The victim allegedly told his cousin that if something bad happens to him, De los Reyes would be the culprit. When asked about a possible motive behind her cousin’s slaying, Gonzales said De los Reyes could have taken Tuaño seriously when he joked about reporting to police his being a drug addict.

Rojas said they received information that Tuaño was a drug pusher, but his relatives denied this saying he was only a user.

The victim’s relatives claimed they received reports that De los Reyes promised Gonzales P500 for the job before handing over a handgun to him during a recent meeting. Gonzales has yet to receive his payment.

Rojas forwarded the seized gun to the PNP crime laboratory in Camp Crame for ballistic examination. The triggerman will be subjected to paraffin tests.

The Marikina police also asked the Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to determine the real owner of the gun.

Meanwhile, De los Reyes’ relatives are questioning his continued detention despite the fact that the police have no direct evidence linking him to Tuaño’s killing.

But Ponce said the confession of Gonzales is strong enough to warrant the filing of murder charges against him and De los Reyes.

De los Reyes and Gonzales are currently being held at the same cell in Marikina City.