The killers of the gun instructor who was attacked at his Caloocan City residence last week may have taken over his Facebook account and are now using it to terrorize his sibling.
Police said menacing “status updates” appeared on the Facebook account of Jose Martinez Jr. a day after the May 14 killing, all directed at his sister, Josephine “Jojie” Viray.
“Tell to Josephine Martinez Viray (sic) if she not stop, I will burn all her document and kill all her family by using a hand grenade,” one of the posts read.
“Once Jojie not stop reporting to the police and media man, I will kill all family and friends,” another message said.
It now appeared that the spray-painted message earlier found at the crime scene, which mentioned a certain “Jojie,” referred to Viray and not to her slain brother as earlier thought, said Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, head of the investigation unit.
The messages prompted the currently “US-based” Viray to offer a P200,000 reward for any information leading to her brother’s killers, Soriano said. The offer was made known to the police through her lawyer.
Soriano showed printouts of the online threats to reporters Tuesday. The messages were in English and Filipino and were posted hours apart.
According to Soriano, the victim’s Facebook account was easily accessed because the password and user name were stored in Martinez’s cell phone, one of the items that went missing after he was shot dead at his house in GSIS Hills Subdivision, Barangay Talipapa.
Investigators also found out that documents, including 13 land titles, and several blank checks went missing from the victim’s files, he added.
Martinez was a financial consultant and a part-time gun instructor who trained policemen in Camp Crame. He and his sister were also partners in a lending business, Soriano said.
A group of at least four men allegedly carried out the murder, according to the victim’s live-in partner, Maricel Retita, who said she was in another room with her 5-year-old child when she heard three shots ring out from Martinez’s room.
Retita also said she saw the four men leave the house using the victim’s gray Honda CRV.
Policemen later found a message—“Hayop ka Jojie stapador (Jojie, you low-life swindler)”— spray-painted in the dining room.