CEBU, Philippines - The suspect in the killing of college student Karen Kay Montebon has already fled Lapu-Lapu City, the police said yesterday.
Lapu-Lapu City Police Office Officer-in-charge Armando Radoc, however, said he has already formed a task force whose members are currently on a hot pursuit operation.
He said they identified the suspect after an informant contacted them, allegedly because the person was bothered by his/her conscience.
Radoc, though, would neither disclose the suspect’s identity nor give additional information so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation.
“It (hot pursuit operation) must be a continuous and uninterrupted pursuit,” he said.
He said he spoke with Mayor Paz Radaza and was told that the city is offering P500,000 as reward for anyone who could provide information leading to the arrest of the suspect, whom authorities believe is now in another province.
Radoc said they have enough circumstantial evidence to arrest the suspect.
“Flight is an admission of guilt,” he said.
LCPO has formed task group “Karen Special Investigation Task Team” comprising the chiefs of the Investigation and Detection Management Board, City Intelligence Branch, and Basak-Marigondon Police Station 4; and homicide investigators.
The Crime Investigation and Detection Group-7 and the Scene of the Crime Operatives are also part of the group.
Radoc said the police manhunt for the suspect started Wednesday night.
Yesterday morning, he called a case conference with homicide investigators, SOCO operatives, and the five police station chiefs of the city.
“Basically, we’re discussing how to immediately resolve the case and arrest the suspect with a tight evidence,” Radoc said.
Initial investigation showed that Karen was alone in their house in Corinthian’s Subdivision, Sitio Suba-Masulog, Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City last Tuesday when killed.
The police said she was preparing to leave for her 10 a.m. pre-finals examination when a man and a petite woman on a black motorcycle arrived and knocked on her door around 7 a.m.
Karen was later found lifeless by her father James past 5 p.m. the same day. James rushed his daughter to the Mactan Doctors’ Hospital but doctors said she was already dead.
With the suspect likely to be already outside Cebu, LCPO formed two teams that are currently involved in going after him.
“One team will now be pursuing the recovery of the two items, the iPad and the DSLR camera, whereas the other team will now be pursuing the arrest of the suspect,” he said.
The two gadgets were taken by the suspects, whose motive is not robbery as there were other more valuable items in the house that were left untouched.
At the Capitol, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III called for a swift investigation into the gruesome killing, saying he was both saddened and alarmed by the incident.
“We hope that culprits would be arrested, and charges would be filed immediately against those who are responsible. I am calling on the authorities to investigate the matter and bring justice (to the victim’s death),” he told reporters.
He likewise asked the subdivision owner and witnesses, if there are any, to coordinate with authorities for the resolution of the case.
“This is a very serious case unya nahitabo pa gyud sulod sa subdivision. Lax siguro ang guards diha, wa kabantay. Dapat ang mga residents they should be vigilant also,” he said.
Radoc said that aside from two witnesses who could provide circumstantial evident, they have an informant, whose identity he would not reveal, who said he knew the identity of the 17-year-old victim’s attacker.
The informant, Radoc said, was bothered by his conscience so he is now cooperating.
Radoc said they are looking at grudge as possible motive behind the killing of the University of San Carlos-Main Campus accountancy student.
“We have very good evidence along that line,” he said.
He also said they received a report concerning Karen’s ex-boyfriend, but clarified that they are not linking him to the crime.
Prayer vigil
Yesterday, hundreds of students from three different USC campuses staged a prayer vigil calling for justice on the death of their fellow Carolinian.
Clad in black shirts along with their faculty members, USC-Main Campus, USC-Talamban, and USC-South Campus students, along with several priests and nuns, lighted candles and prayed for Karen.
They also erected a makeshift “freedom wall” where they wrote messages of inspiration, prayers, and even condemnation against the culprit.
In a speech she delivered for her close friend, Lakisha Moncano described Karen as “very sweet and kind,” drawing strong emotions and tears from her fellow students.
Classmates of Karen, who celebrated her birthday three weeks, created the Facebook page “Justice for Karen Kaye Montebon” after they learned of her death.
Accountancy Department chairman Eleonor Paclijan likewise called on authorities to do their best so that justice would be served for Karen.
James, 45, however, said he is thankful for the police’s immediate action in solving her daughter’s death.
“Magpasalamaton ko sa dali nga pag-aksyon sa kapolisan aron madakpan ang suspek para matagaan og justice ang akong anak,” he told reporters yesterday.
According to the post-mortem certification of death released last September 16 by Dr. Felino Brunia Jr., PNP Crime Laboratory medico-legal officer, Karen died of “asphyxia by manual strangulation,” or that the suspect choked her using his bare hands.
Also, despite initial reports that Karen’s genitals showed lacerations, Radoc said they cannot say yet if the victim was really raped, especially that he noticed something unusual about the incident.
“Maghisgot ta og victim of rape, it’s very unusual nga human og rape ipasul-ob nimo og balik ang iyahang underwear together with the pants niya,” he said, referring to a photo that circulated showing Karen lifeless and with her clothes on.
Meanwhile, Grace Diaz, Corinthian’s Subdivision president, said in a text message that she, too, was saddened by Karen’s death.
“Very unexpected, indeed. We will be strictly implementing procedures to properly account homeowners and visitors entering/ exiting the subdivision. We are planning to buy CCTV cameras,” she said.
Although the subdivision has security guards, they do not zealously record those who go in and out of the subdivision and did not require any identification especially during the day of the crime.
Diaz encouraged the homeowners to be vigilant and helping by reporting to security personnel any “malicious activity” inside the subdivision.
The incident was not the first crime to happen inside a subdivision in Lapu-Lapu City this year. Radoc said that last March, five men victimized a businesswoman inside Deca 4 Subdivision in Barangay Bankal, taking away P7 million worth of cash, branded bags, and jewelry, and her SUV.
Karen’s wake is at St. Peter’s Funeral Homes in Mandaue City. She will be buried this Sunday at the Mactan Memorial Garden in Barangay Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu. — with Michael Vencynth H. Braga, Rowena Capistrano/RHM (FREEMAN)