MANILA, Philippines – A pile of three unread newspaper issues has led to the discovery of the body of a retired policeman inside his apartment in Quezon City.
The decomposing body of Saturnino Manabat, 68, a tenant at room 404 of the Elizabeth Mansion on N. Domingo Street in Barangay (village) Kaunlaran in Cubao, was found by a maintenance worker who was delivering the retired policeman’s daily supply of newspapers.
Senior Police Officer 1 Jaime Gimena, of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU), said that Manabat could have been dead for four days before he was found based on his body’s advanced stage of decomposition.
According to Gimena, the body of the retired policeman was discovered around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday by Marlo Carampatana who was puzzled to see a heap of still neatly folded newspapers outside Manabat’s door just as he was to deliver the publication’s latest issue.
Alarmed, Carampatana notified the mansion’s administrative secretary Luisa Pedroche.
Pedroche, accompanied by the maintenance worker, went to Manabat’s room and knocked on the door.
When there was no answer, she used a duplicate key to open the door and discovered the decomposing body on the bed. The two mansion employees immediately called up the police.
Gimena said that an autopsy was conducted on Manabat to determine the cause of his death.