MANILA, Philippines ? Police still have no leads on the suspects in the robbery-killing of a Filipino-Canadian and his Slovenian partner but found a manicurist and an itinerant junk dealer who may have helped the maid believed in cahoots with the suspects get hired by the couple.
Alexis Tioseco, 29, and Nika Bohinc, 30, both film critics and fans of Philippine independent cinema, were shot dead Tuesday night after they arrived home to catch three men in the act of ransacking their residence at 39 Times St., Barangay West Triangle, Quezon City.
Police believe a new housemaid, Criselda Gesman Dayag, had let the robbers into the house.
Chief Insp. Benjamin Elenzano, head of the Quezon City Police District homicide investigation unit, said the maid may have used a fictitious name as there was no derogatory record of her with police.
Elenzano said police learned the maid had befriended a ?manicurista and a magbobote? to help her get a job with the couple.
?We are still working on the identities of the robbers, but we discovered that Dayag befriended a manicurist who had rich clients and a ?magbobote? who went around the neighborhood buying bottles from maids of rich families,? Elenzano said.
He said he was withholding the names of the manicurist and junk dealer for security reasons.
He said they were traced through the address Dayag gave when she applied for a police clearance before being hired by Tioseco and Bohinc.
?We found out the maid also used their address to acquire barangay and police clearances,? Elenzano said.
He said investigation showed the maid was a part of a robbery gang targeting affluent households.
?She would only stay a few months as a maid then move on to other employers until she found the right target,? Elenzano said.
Senior Supt. Gerardo Ratuita said police were checking if other homes and establishments in the victims? neighborhood were equipped with closed-circuit television cameras.
After robbing and killing the victims, the robbers made off with their car which they abandoned a few blocks away.
?We are calling on homeowners and managers with CCTVs if they have footage of the suspects,? Ratuita said.
Elenzano said a representative of the victims? families contacted police to say they were arriving in the country Friday.
?We will provide them with a progress report and assistance if they ask for it,? Elenzano said.