The man accused of killing and burning the body of a woman inside a motel in Pasig City was charged on Wednesday with murder and arson at the city prosecutor’s office.
Case investigator Senior Police Officer 2 Rogelio Baltazar said Raymond Camarse, 44, a resident of Quezon City, was arrested after he was caught fleeing from the crime scene.
His victim was identified as Regine Fernandez, a 20-year-old guest relations officer at a hotel in Cebu City.
Her body was found inside a room in Country Lodge at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. It was under a pile of burning clothes, a pair of sandals, parts of a wooden chair and glass shards.
The policeman said the victim had been stabbed to death.
“The fire was done to cover up the crime. Had the suspect fled undetected, the identity of the victim would still be unknown up to now,” Baltazar added.
Before the victim’s burnt body was discovered, the suspect was spotted hurriedly leaving the motel room and trying to start his car.
Sensing that something was wrong, an employee of the motel blocked his way with a movable metal fence.
The suspect, however, forced his way out of the motel on board his car but members of the barangay (village) security force and policemen who were alerted by suspicious motel staffers apprehended him just a few meters away from the entrance.
They found in the back seat of his vehicle the kitchen knife allegedly used in the killing as well as the victim’s identification cards.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no one has claimed the victim’s body, the police said.
The suspect, on the other hand, remains detained at the Pasig police headquarters.
Baltazar said the suspect told him that the victim was his mistress and that he had tried to break up with her.
Earlier reports, however, said that the woman was killed because she wanted out of the relationship.