Cops nab ex-delivery man tagged in octogenarian couple slay

Carl Joseph Alarin Bañanola, the suspect tagged in the killing of octogenarian couple in Quezon City, was taken under police custody. INQUIRER.net photo / Consuelo Marquez

MANILA, Philippines — A man, who used to deliver eggs, was taken under police custody after he was tagged as the suspect behind the May 26 killing of an octogenarian couple.

Carl Joseph Alarin Bañanola, 37, was arrested along 4th Avenue, Doña Rita in Caloocan City on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

Bañanola was the principal suspect behind the killing of Nicolas Austria and his wife Leonora Austria. The husband and wife were found dead with stab wounds inside their house at 8 Diego Silang St., TS Cruz Subdivision, Barangay San Agustin, Novaliches on Sunday afternoon. 

The couple’s house helper Editha Fernandez was also injured during the attack.

READ: Octogenarian couple found dead inside Quezon City home

The arrest came after a former co-worker of Bañanola told police that the shirt and pants recovered from the crime scene were the same clothes worn by the suspect before the killing happened.

Upon receiving information, joint operatives of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU), Northern Police District Intelligence Division and Caloocan Police Station conducted a hot pursuit operation which led to the suspect’s arrest.

Investigators of CIDU and members of the Novaliches City police also confirmed the suspect’s identity from Fernandez, who is still confined at the hospital. 

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar then revealed that the suspect used to sell eggs for the couple.

“Ito laging nagdi-deliver ng itlog nakikita na-establish na posibleng may pera dun,” Eleazar said in a press conference at Camp Karingal in Quezon City on Wednesday.

The suspect was reportedly under the influence of illegal drugs when he allagedly killed the couple, the NCRPO chief said.

“‘Yung nangyari dito di mo maimagine sa kamag-anak mo… sa magulang dahil sa isang adik na patawa tawa pa na nagsasabi na nangangailangan,” Eleazar said.

Seized from the suspect was the stolen money amounting to P16,100, which was part of P38,000 missing from the victims’ home.

Cases of robbery with homicide and frustrated murder will be filed against Bañanola. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)