INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — A police officer was found dead Thursday in Uson town in Masbate province, three days after unidentified men shot his wife dead.
Brigadier General Andre Perez Dizon, Bicol regional police director, said in a report that Patrolman Samuel Baruelo Jr, 31, was found dead around 1:30 p.m. with a bullet wound on his head in Barangay Buenasuerte.
An initial investigation said the victim left the house where the wake of his wife was held to take a bath but failed to return after an hour.
READ: Cop, 2 others hurt in Masbate shooting
His relatives looked for him and he was later found near a creek with blood on his body.
His wife, Cheryl, a 32-year-old college student, was shot dead at 5:55 p.m. on Monday, March 4, in Barangay Bagumbayan in Masbate City.
An initial report said that while walking from school on the way to their house, Cheryl was approached by two unidentified men and one of them shot her at close range in the head.
Police recovered an empty shell and one slug in the area.
The slain cop was assigned at the 1st Masbate Provincial Mobile Force Company.
They both lived in Barangay Bagumbayan with their three children.
Lieutenant Colonel Maria Luisa Calubaquib, spokesperson of the Bicol Police Regional Office, said they were still identifying the motive behind the killings and if the two incidents were connected.
“It will depend on the result of crossmatching and validation,” Calubaquib said in a separate private message on Friday.