Rookie cop found dead in car trunk

Police are investigating the murder of a rookie police officer, whose body was found inside the trunk of his own car along the President Diosdado Macapagal Avenue in Parañaque City shortly before midnight last Tuesday.

Investigators identified the victim as Police Officer 1 Dennis Maligaya, 24, of the National Capital Region Police Office-Regional Special Action Unit (NCRPO-RSAU). They said the officer was tortured before he was killed for still unknown reasons.

Police have yet to determine the actual cause of death since the body had multiple puncture wounds and bruises, as well as injuries which may have been caused by a blunt object.

Senior Inspector Glen Tigson, of the Parañaque Police-Station Investigation Division, said a police team was patrolling the area near the Marina Subdivision on PDM Avenue when they spotted Maligaya’s car, a blue Toyota Corolla XL (UHR-429).

The officers went for a closer look and found the car empty. They then opened the trunk on suspicion that it may contain weapons or explosives.

When they opened it, they found Maligaya’s naked and lifeless body which bore obvious signs of torture.

The puncture wounds, police said, could either be stab wounds from an icepick or gunshot wounds from a caliber .22 revolver.

Tigson said they immediately checked with the NCRPO-RSAU and the Southern Police District (SPD) in an effort to identify the victim and locate his relatives.

"The car belonged to the victim. His body has been sent to the Philippine National Police (PNP) crime laboratory for autopsy," he said.

Tigson said he was able to talk with Maligaya’s sister Sigrid, 25, who last saw her brother six hours before he was found dead.

"He apparently dropped by their house on Sisa street in Sampaloc, Manila at 5:30 p.m. He told her sister that he was eating out," the inspector said.

Maligaya, in civilian clothes, left on board a Toyota Revo patrol vehicle.

Tigson said his men are now conducting a follow-up investigation to determine what happened to the victim.

The inspector said he believes Maligaya was not killed in Parañaque.

He was killed somewhere else and then someone drove his car all the way to the PDM Avenue, he said.

A Scene of the Crime Operations team is now in custody of the vehicle, which is being checked for fingerprints and other pieces of evidence which might shed more light into the investigation.

Tigson said they are also looking into claims that his murder could be linked to a shooting incident near the victim’s residence last June 9. The officer shot someone after resisting arrest and fleeing.

"Our investigators are looking into all angles and are coordinating with Maligaya’s mother unit in Bicutan, Taguig," he said.