MANILA, Philippines – Police have launched a hunt for a call center agent who allegedly stabbed dead the son of a former ranking police official before setting fire to the victim’s condominium unit in Pasay City on Sunday.
Erick Dacutan, a resident of Pasig City, is being accused of killing Joel Ivan de Guzman, 27, and burning the victim’s unit on the 11th floor of Somerset Condominium on Leveriza Street in an attempt to hide the crime.
Senior Supt. Raul Petrasanta, Pasay police chief, said arson investigators discovered the victim’s body after the fire in his room was put out.
De Guzman, he added, was the son of Senior Supt. Juanito de Guzman, the deputy director of the Manila Police District before his retirement from the service.
“The suspect probably thought that he could hide his crime by torching the victim’s body and his condo unit,” Petrasanta told the Inquirer.
According to the police official, Dacutan arrived at Somerset Condominium at around 10:18 a.m. on Sunday and presented an identification card of Sykes Asia Inc., a business process outsourcing company, to the security guard on duty.
Dacutan then went up to the victim’s unit and left at around 12:40 p.m. One hour later, several residents of the condominium reported that they saw smoke coming out of the victim’s place.
Petrasanta said firemen quickly put out the fire before it could spread to the nearby units.
As firemen were clearing the room, they saw the victim’s charred body lying face down on the floor.
Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) who examined the body saw four open gashes on his scalp and forehead. The victim also had a stab wound on his chin, Petrasanta said.
“Upon further examination, we found out that the victim was already dead before his body was burned during the fire,” he said.
PO3 Rodolfo Suquina Jr., case investigator, said the victim’s relatives were baffled over his death.
Petrasanta, meanwhile, said they were coordinating with officials of the call center firm to determine if Dacutan was really an employee of the company.
