3 men gunned down in Medellin

Three men  were shot dead by a bonnet-wearing assailant in barangay Dayhagon, Medellin town, northern Cebu.

Police are looking into drugs as a possible motive in the killing of Joel Alarde Bañares, 30, of barangay Don Pedro , Bogo City; Maki Verallo, of barangay Polambato, Bogo City; and Benjie dela Cruz Piamonte, 26, of barangay Dakit, Bogo City.

The three men bore gunshot wounds in the head.

SP04 Carlos Condino, investigator of the Medellin police, said  Bañares and Verallo were workers of Lowell Dimaymay, who runs a small cock farm in the area.

Condino said Dimaymay was suspected to be involved in illegal drugs operation and that  Piamonte was a frequent customer.

Bañares’ wife Era told police that her husband and Verallo were sleeping under a mango tree when they were shot around 3 a.m. last Tuesday.

Era told police that she was sleeping at the terrace of her house near Dimaymay’s house when she was awakened by bursts of gunfire.

Era said that after the gunshots, she saw a man, whose face was covered with a black bonnet and wearing black jacket and brown shorts, holding a gun while heading to a  waiting motorcycle driven by another man.

Era later found her husband and Verallo bathed in their own blood.

The bodies were laid on sheets of carton.

Piamonte was found about five meters from  Bañares and Verallo, said police.

Six empty shells and one slug for a .45 caliber pistol were recovered from the scene.

Condino said the violence took place near a makeshift hut where drug-sniffing paraphernalia were found.