PNP report: 2 possible locations for Nicole’s killer

MANILA, Philippines - A forensic report by the Philipine National Police Crime Laboratory has pinpointed two possible locations for the killer of stray bullet victim Stephanie Nicole Ella, based on the bullet’s trajectory as it entered her body.

A report from Caloocan police chief Senior Superintendent Rimas Calixto to the Northern Police District, obtained by The STAR, stated that the crime laboratory found that the shooter was either 150 meters southeast of Ella’s location if she was “facing front, head slightly tilted upward,” or 350 meters northeast “if the victim (was) facing left from where she (stood).”

Superintendent Jackie Candelario, spokesman for Task Group Nicole, said the result is more accurate than the 50-meter radius initially reported by investigators.

A bullet from a .45 caliber pistol hit Nicole, seven, in the head while she and her father were watching fireworks near their house in Barangay 185, Tala, Caloocan past midnight last Jan. 1.

She was rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, where she died on Jan. 2 after suffering from eight heart attacks. Her death sparked a public outcry and a manhunt for the shooter.

Twenty-four slugs and spent shells recovered near the crime scene were subjected to ballistics tests to determine the gun used and possibly identify the gun owner.

The crime laboratory said the slugs and spent shells did not match the slug recovered from Nicole’s body.