Two thieves who were arrested after the police found them through a global positioning system (GPS) device installed in an iPad they stole have also been charged with killing and robbing a company secretary.
Raymond Reyes, 23, and Joel David, 32, were recently charged with robbery with homicide in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office over the death of Olivia Samarita. They were not allowed to post bail.
The 41-year-old victim who worked for Bellfry Lubricants was shot and killed on Nov. 13 in front of its office in Barangay (village) San Isidro Labrador, Quezon City.
Samarita had just withdrawn P500,000 upon her superior’s instructions when two men on a motorcycle approached her, shot her and took her bag, which contained the money.
Insp. Elmer Monsalve, homicide section chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said witnesses positively linked the suspects to the victim’s killing.
“The robbery was caught on film by a nearby surveillance camera. It showed the suspects killing the woman and even their getaway vehicle, a motorcycle with a for registration plate,” the official added.
Reyes was identified as the one who shot Samarita while David drove the getaway motorcycle, Monsalve said.
The two men were arrested on Nov. 20 immediately after they and several other cohorts barged into a house in Barangay Laging Handa, tied up its residents and ransacked the premises.
Their loot included P10 million in cash, jewelry and other valuables, including an iPad, but they did not know that the house owner, Ruben Dizon, had a GPS device installed in the gadget.
Using the GPS, Dizon tracked down the suspects and gave their whereabouts to the police, leading to their arrest.
According to authorities, the suspects were members of the Cuya robbery gang led by Jonathan Cuya, 23. The group has been tagged by the police in several other heists in Quezon City.
Monsalve said David also yielded the motorcycle used in Samarita’s killing.