Arrested was Danilo Obosa, 21, listed as the No. 1 most wanted criminal by the Valenzuela City police, is the prime suspect in the gruesome killing of Elizabeth Goyenchea and Angela Badilla and the wounding of Reynaldo Ladica on July 3, 1998.
Obosa, of Sitio Pong-on, Barangay San Salvador, Matalom, Leyte, a former helper of Goyenchea, harbored a grudge against his employer after he was sacked from his job a few days before the incident.
The family and relatives of the victims hailed and commended City Mayor Jose Emmanuel "Bobbit" Carlos, Superintendent Jose Marcelo, Valenzuela City police chief, and his men for the arrest of suspect Obosa alias "Danny’ or "Dodong" in Matalom, Leyte.
Marcelo, in a presentation at the mayor’s office yesterday, said Obosa was collared in his hometown after five years in hiding on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by now retired Judge Floro Alejo of the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court for robbery with double homicide and serious physical injuries charges.
Records showed Obosa slipped from the authorities shortly after the rob-slay incident. The suspect’s arrest came after Marcelo received reliable information last Sept. 29, 2003 from the Matalom Police Station in Leyte saying Obosa was spotted roaming in Sitio Pong-on where his family resided. Prior to this, Obosa allegedly figured in a fistfight with a neighbor and was taken into custody.
Marcelo then coordinated with the Matalom police even as he ordered a copy of the arrest warrant and a mugshot of the suspect faxed there. After Obosa’s identity was confirmed, Marcelo dispatched his men to Matalom on Oct. 1, 2003. Upon arrival there the following day, they collared Obosa, who has been detained at the police jail. – with Pete Laude