Cops use Internet to catch murder suspect

MANILA, Philippines - Homicide detectives of the Valenzuela City police used search engines and the social networking site Facebook to catch a suspect in the murder of a 30-year-old call center agent in a hotel in Karuhatan at dawn Saturday.

Valenzuela City police chief Senior Superintendent Rainer Idio said the naked body of an unidentified woman was found in a room at the Paxton Hotel, and in “less than 48 hours the suspect was arrested with the help of the Internet.”

Hotel employees said the woman, who had severe head injuries and was strangled with a towel, checked in with a man who left in a hurry a few hours later.

Senior Police Officer 1 Manuel Griarte, one of the case investigators, said among the items recovered from the scene was a piece of paper containing names and telephone numbers.

“We used the Internet in searching for the name, and texted the owners of the cell phones. We were able to contact a Facebook account holder who knew the victim,” he said.

He said Christian Assylum identified the victim as CK Cordova, his long-time Facebook girlfriend. He said they only chatted online and never met in person.

Their investigation led police officers to another friend of the victim, Sheelann Talania, who told police the name of the victim was Christine Cordova, a call center agent who was residing with them.

Talania told police investigators that Cordova said she was going to have an “eyeball,” or meet with a certain Richard, a resident of Sumilang subdivision in Dalandanan, Valenzuela City.

Police officer later identified the suspect as Richard Bicos and arrested him on Sunday morning at his house.

Hotel employees identified Bicos from a police line-up as the same man who checked in with Cordova Friday night.

Bicos told investigators that friend introduced the victim and they agreed to meet at a restaurant. Police said that after having some drinks, the two agreed to stay at a hotel. Bicos reportedly left the hotel at around 4 a.m. Saturday after allegedly killing Cordova.

Police investigators recovered Cordova’s cell phone from Bicos.

“It’s a crime of passion. The suspect apparently went berserk, resulting in the killing of the victim,” a police investigator told The STAR.