Slay suspect sends clues to police

A cell phone SIM card and one of 13 land titles.

These items—among several taken last month from a financial consultant who was shot dead inside his house in Caloocan City—were sent last week to the lead investigator in the case.

As a result, city police chief Senior Superintendent Jude Santos  told reporters that they now consider the sender a suspect in the killing of Jose Martinez Jr., 42, on May 14.

Martinez was also a part-time gun instructor who trained policemen in Camp Crame. He and his sister were partners in a lending business.

The package was addressed to Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, head of the Caloocan police investigation unit who is in charge of the case.

Also inside the package was a note written on yellow paper in which the writer declared his willingness to cooperate with the police since he and his six accomplices had yet to receive the P1 million they were promised as payment for killing Martinez.

The writer also mentioned the name of the man who hired them although the police declined to identify him for the time being.

Soriano, however, said that the alleged mastermind was one of Martinez’s clients in his lending business.

According to the writer, the victim and the man who hired them to kill him had a serious disagreement although he did not say what the cause was.

Also in the note was a message taunting the police over the seeming lack of progress in their investigation of the case.

It went: “The Philippines is a mess so you wouldn’t be able to solve this case without this letter … HAHAHAHA.”

A check of the package’s receipt identified the sender as Rommel Ignacio from BF Homes in Parañaque although Santos and Soriano both agreed that the name and address were probably bogus.

Santos, however, said that they had managed to get a description of the suspect based on the footage taken by a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera inside the mailing establishment in Quezon City.

According to Soriano, they were certain that the man shown in the footage was the actual sender as they had cross-checked the time and date the package was sent, as seen on the receipt, with the mailing establishment’s records.

Based on the CCTV footage, the suspect was around 40 years old, 5’6” to 5’8” in height, of medium build and with fair complexion.