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MANILA, Philippines—The meticulous records kept by a motel on its regular customers helped the police track down the killers of a 57-year-old man who was found dead inside the establishment.
The body of Roberto Apuyan, a plant manager at Friction Material Inc., a car spare parts manufacturing plant, was discovered with 11 stab wounds inside a room at Pitang Suites on Evangelista Street in Pasig City on November 19.
Through a check of the motel records, the police managed to track down and arrest the primary suspect who had listed down her address in Marikina City in previous visits to the establishment—a 15-year-old girl who was the victim’s lover.
According to the motel staff, both were regular guests of the establishment.
A further check of the records and verification showed that the minor did not kill the victim by herself. Her 21-year-old boyfriend, Elton Juan, and his cohort known only as Panget had helped her carry out the deed.
Juan and Panget, who along with the girl were charged on Tuesday at the Pasig City Prosecutor’s Office with robbery with homicide, remain at large.
After killing him, the three ransacked the room and took his wallet and iPhone, case investigator Police Officer 3 Rustom Valdez of the Pasig police said.
“We can discard the crime of passion angle because it seemed to be public knowledge that the victim [was having an affair] with the minor,” he added.
According to the police prober, Apuyan’s Facebook account showed several pictures of him with his lover.
He added that based on their investigation, the victim’s wife had apparently accepted the fact that her husband liked other women although it was not clear whether she knew that he regularly met the girl at a motel.
Based on their initial findings and interviews with the motel staff, the victim checked into a room on the second floor of the motel on November 17, followed by the girl a few minutes later, Valdez said.
The motel records showed that after about 30 minutes, her boyfriend Juan and Panget checked into another room on the third floor.
After several hours, the girl left by herself, a move that did not arouse the motel staff’s suspicions until two days later.
On November 19, motel personnel rang up Apuyan’s room to ask him when he planned to check out.
When repeated calls went unanswered, a room boy was sent to check on him.
Asked by the police why two days went by before they checked on him, the hotel staff answered that they felt no need to do so since no one had called up the establishment to ask about him.
Valdez said that the 15-year-old girl and her cohorts had obviously conspired to rob the victim. “He was a manager. He had a lot of money,” he explained.
Senior Inspector Rodrigo de Dios, investigation chief, said that a manhunt operation was ongoing for the two other suspects.