4 held for questioning over Tondo preacher’s slay

Police picked up for questioning yesterday four male persons in connection with the slaying of a 48-year-old Mormon preacher who was found dead from a stab wound inside her residence in Tondo, Manila last Monday night.

Investigators said the four included relatives and neighbors of Amalia Galleno who was stabbed at the sala of her rented apartment at 1323 Interior 14 corner Quricada and Yakal streets.

Out of the four, two relatives of the victim could turn up as the possible perpetrators of the crime, according to investigators.

However, police refused to release their names until an airtight case could be established against the suspects.

"We do not want to bungle the case. We want to be sure that these persons in our custody are the real perpetrators," an investigator said.

According to probers, they already have in their custody a witness who could positively identified the culprits in the Galleno killing. Police believed the killers are known to the victim since there was no forcible sign of entry into her residence. Police also ruled out robbery as the motive for the slaying since the belongings of the victim were intact.

Galleno’s body was discovered by a neighbor at about 8 p.m. Monday after she became concern when the victim failed to come out of her apartment for the whole day. Beside the victim is her adopted daughter’s nine-month-old baby who was spared from harm. The door at the ground floor was locked from the inside.

Probers said that except for a stab wound on the neck, no other visible sign of injury was noted on the victim.

The victim has been a widow for seven years. She has been living in an apartment at the compound occupied mostly by her husband’s relatives.

It was the habit of the victim’s adopted daughter Charesse Anne, who is living separately with her live-in partner at a nearby house, to bring the couple’s nine-month-old baby to the victim.

Prior to the discovery of the body, the baby was brought to the victim’s house by one Allan Maliwanag, a friend of the couple. Maliwanag told police that the victim was very much alive when he left the baby to her care, several hours before she was found dead.