Cop, lover found dead; probers eye murder-suicide

MANILA, Philippines - A police official and his lover were found dead from gunshot wounds in a condominium unit in Quiapo, Manila yesterday morning.

The foul odor from the decomposing bodies of Chief Inspector Janton Albano, 30; and his partner, businesswoman Lulu Andres, 28, prompted police and barangay officials to force open the locked door of Room 812 at the University Convenience Flats condominium, according to Manila Police District homicide chief Inspector Armando Macaraeg. 

“The bodies were already in early stages of decomposition and the couple could have been dead for at least two days already,” Macaraeg said.

Case investigator SPO1 Gerardo Rivera said both bodies sustained gunshot wounds. Andres, whose body was found sprawled on the lower bunk of the double-deck bed, had a gunshot wound in the nape. Albano’s body lay on the floor nearby, with a handgun beside his legs.

“Judging from the wounds, it seemed that the police official shot himself in the mouth, with the bullet exiting through his head,” Rivera said.

Aside from the gun, police also recovered two shells and two deformed slugs in the room.

Police said Andres, a businesswoman who was separated from her previous marriage, owned the condominium unit. Albano, the deputy chief of regional investigation unit of Tuguegarao police force and also separated from his previous wife, had been living in with Andres for nearly two years. The couple have a three-month-old baby.

Leah, the woman’s sister, told police that she was not aware of any quarrel between the live-in couple.

Rivera said there is a possibility that Albano killed Andres first before shooting himself in the mouth. “We will try to establish what triggered the shooting. If they are not quarreling,” he said, adding that Albano could have shot the woman by accident.

Macaraeg initially ruled out foul play since the unit was securely locked from the inside. “There is no forced entry and the furniture and belongings inside the room were in proper places, indicating there was no struggle prior to the shooting,” he said.