Superintendent Rogelio Montejo, intelligence and investigation chief of the Eastern Visayas police, said the body of Inspector Nestorio Superales was already in a state of decomposition when it was found in Barangay Balugo in Tarangnan town.
Superales, who was identified through his police identification card, had three gunshot wounds in the head.
Montejo admitted that investigators still have no leads in the case, although he mentioned about a possible love triangle, citing reports that Superales had a relationship with the wife of a foreigner who, incidentally, is now vacationing in Samar.
Montejo, however, did not discount the possibility that Superales’ murder could be related to his previous work as anti-narcotics chief of this city.
Residents of Barangay Balugo told police that they did not hear any gunshots, prompting probers to suspect that Superales was killed elsewhere and that his body was merely dumped in the village.
Police said Superales was on leave and was reportedly working on his papers for his possible return to the Tacloban police. He was transferred to Northern Samar last January.
Superales’ killing was the second celebrated case in the region this first quarter.
Last Feb. 24, Godofredo Quimsing Jr., a son and namesake of this city’s legal officer, was shot dead by still unidentified gunmen near the Tacloban Sports Complex.
Quimsing was inside his car parked near the sports complex when he was attacked. His male companion was unhurt.
Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to assist the local police in looking into the Quimsing slay.
Montejo said the NBI is also lending its expertise in crime investigation in Superales’ killing.