Consultant slain by partner, lover

MANILA, Philippines - A woman and her lover admitted yesterday to killing her partner, a financial consultant, in Caloocan City three months ago.

Ma. Cecilia Retita, 27, surrendered to Caloocan police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos on Aug. 13 after her lover, sales agent Joselito Calma, gave himself up to Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, city police investigation chief, on Aug. 10.

“The suspects claimed they only intended to rob (Jose Martinez Jr.) but the way we see it is they wanted Martinez dead because of their illicit affair,” Soriano told The STAR yesterday.

Martinez, 42, was shot dead in his house at GSIS Subdivision in Barangay Talipapa at around 2 a.m. on May 13. Investigators earlier said Martinez’s killers took P100,000, 13 land titles, assorted jewelry, mobile phones, and the victim’s 9mm and .45 caliber pistols.

A likely story

Retita initially said Martinez was sleeping in their bedroom while she and their four-year-old daughter were with his niece, Kimberly, watching television in an adjoining bedroom when men wearing bonnets attacked.

The “robbers” spray-painted the living room wall, calling the victim’s elder sister, who was in the United States at the time, a “swindler.” They fled with Martinez’s car, which they later abandoned in La Loma, Quezon City.

Soriano said they suspected Retita “must have known something” about the attack since investigators found no signs of forced entry at the crime scene.

Martinez’s family, who own a money-lending firm, offered a P200,000 reward for the arrest of his killers. An informant provided Calma’s name after seeing his photo in the news.

Soriano and his team tracked Calma from his house in Bulacan to Cebu City and persuaded him to surrender.

Rob, not kill

Retita said she met Calma through a social networking site in 2009 and she was the one who left the gate of their house open so Calma and his accomplices could enter. She said their affair started late last year.

“We had no intention to kill him, but just to rob him. It’s my companion who shot him dead,” Calma said.

He refused to name the gunman, saying he fears reprisal because his companion serves as a politician’s bodyguard. Investigators, however, identified the alleged gunman as Ricardo Magat, a resident of Bulacan.

Robbery with homicide charges were filed Monday against Retita, Calma and Magat with city prosecutor Nimfa Gallo, who recommended that they not be granted bail.

The informant claimed the reward at the Caloocan police station yesterday.