Cops turn to CCTV cameras for help

MANILA, Philippines–The police are hoping to identify the suspects in the killing of actress Cherry Pie Picache’s mother with the help of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

According to Insp. Elmer Monsalve, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) homicide section, investigators were examining the footage taken by CCTV cameras in Barangay (village) Paligsahan, Quezon City, where Picache’s 75-year-old mother, Zenaida Sison, lived.

At 6 p.m. on Friday, the actress rushed to her mother’s two-story house on Scout Dr. Lazcano Street after the latter failed to respond to her repeated phone calls.

When Picache arrived, she and her driver found out that someone had forced open the gate and main door. Sison’s body, which bore several stab wounds, was found inside her bedroom.

Investigators earlier said the victim might been killed by robbers as some of her jewelry were missing.

QCPD-CIDU theft and robbery section chief Insp. Alan de la Cruz told the Inquirer on Sunday that they had yet to determine what was taken.

“Someone had taken off the lids of the jewelry boxes. Cherry Pie said there were [several pieces] missing but she didn’t know how much they were worth. Definitely, the victim’s cell phone was also missing,” he said in a phone interview.

Sison lived alone although she had a house helper, a gardener and a laundry woman who reported only during the day. Asked if the robbery could be an “inside job,” Monsalve said that the identity of the perpetrator was still “under investigation.”

De la Cruz said that only the victim’s bedroom was ransacked. So far, no other items seemed to have been taken from any other room in the house, he added.