MANILA, Philippines — The suspect in the gruesome murder and skinning of a 16-year-old girl in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu could be a “psychological maniac,” the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday.
“Hindi pa rin matukoy kung ano talaga ang motibo pero ang tinitingnan na anggulo nga ay bahagi nito ‘yung pagiging psychological maniac ng isang tao, na kung saan ay makakagawa ang isang tao ng isang karumal-dumal na krimen,” PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Bernard Banac said in a press conference at Camp Crame.
(The motive has not been identified but the angle we are looking into is that the person could be a psychological maniac, that someone can do such a brutal crime.)
Banac said that the killer, if indeed a psychological maniac and is under the influence of illegal drugs, can possibly perpetrate such kind of brutal murder.
“Ang isang tao na may psychological disorder at lango sa droga, [kapag] pinagsama iyan, makakagawa talaga ng ganitong klaseng karumal-dumal na krimen,” he said.
(A person who has a psychological disorder and is under the influence of drugs, if both conditions are combined, can really do this kind of grim murder.)
On Monday, March 11, the body of Christine Lee Silawan was found by passers-by on a vacant lot in Barangay Bangkal in Cebu.
Half of the face of Silawan was skinned, exposing her skull. The Central Visayas Regional Crime Laboratory also found out that the perpetrator of the crime took out the anterior and front part of her neck and extracted her trachea, tongue, esophagus, right neck muscle, and right ear.
READ: Cebu teenager’s slay: Precise mutilation shocks, baffles authorities
Banac said investigators are currently looking at three possible angles behind the killing — that the suspect is suffering from a mental disorder, or could be under the influence of drugs, or both — and that the killer committed the crime as part of cult rituals.
Banac said the police already have information on the primary suspect on the case. He said the police are also eyeing two other persons of interest who might have a hand on the murder. /je