Cops narrow down suspect list to 7 in Mayor Bote slay

A tarpaulin streamer hangs at the wake of Mayor Ferdinand Bote at the General Tinio municipal hall compound in Nueva Ecija. (Photo by ARMAND GALANG / Inquirer Central Luzon)

CABANATUAN CITY – The police are coordinating with the family of slain General Tinio town Mayor Ferdinand Bote before it charges seven suspects it has tied to his July 3 murder here, a ranking police official said on Tuesday (July 10).

Senior Supt. Eliseo Tanding, Nueva Ecija police director, said a special investigative task force has narrowed down leads and have also established the route taken by two or three gunmen on a motorcycle and several men in a car after they fired at Bote’s vehicle at 4:30 p.m. as it edited the composing of a government agency.

But Tanding declined to release more details or the identities of the suspects

Tanding attended a case conference presided by Roel Obusan, director of the Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group hours after Bote was buried on Tuesday.

“We have fruitful results po,” Tanding told newsmen. The police said it had been examining Bote’s political and professional dealings. The slain mayor is an engineer.