Man nabbed for extort try on homicide victim’s family

MANILA, Philippines - A man was arrested in Quezon City on Tuesday after he allegedly tried to extort P300,000 from a homicide victim’s family in exchange for the identity of the killer.

The city prosecutor’s office recommended that Jun Flores, 41, be charged with robbery extortion, according to Inspector Elmer Monsalve, chief of the homicide investigation section of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Monsalve said Flores was arrested during an entrapment operation at a mall in Cubao around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

He said the operation was based on a complaint of the Pagatpatan family, who said the suspect tried to extort from them P300,000 and two iPhone 4s in exchange for information on the killing of the family’s patriarch, Daniel, 64.

Daniel, who taught at the San Agustin Elementary School, was found dead by his family when they arrived on the night of June 30 at their home in Barangay San Agustin. He had been repeatedly stabbed in the neck and his arms bore lacerations.

Daniel was left alone in the house that day as his wife and children went to Tagaytay City to attend a relative’s death anniversary.

Police earlier said that a robbery had taken place since the house was in disarray and there were several valuables missing.

Investigators had yet to determine any suspect in the crime when Daniel’s son, Nick Lorenzo, received a message from Flores via social media site Facebook on Sept. 29. Flores asked Daniel’s son to contact him on his cell phone as he had information about the victim’s killer.

When Nick contacted Flores, the suspect initially demanded P500,000 for information about the identity of the suspected killer. Monsalve said that during negotiations, Flores agreed to lower his price to P300,000 and two iPhone 4s.

Nick then sought assistance of the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, which set up the entrapment.

During interrogation, Flores identified Daniel’s killer, claiming that he overheard the killer talk about the crime since they had previously stayed at the same place.

Monsalve declined to release the name of the killer identified by Flores. He said they are checking the fingerprints of Flores and the man he claimed to have killed Daniel for their possible involvement in the victim’s death.