Suspect in twin QC killings lived like a sewer rat before arrest

MANILA, Philippines–The suspect in the Nov. 12 killings of a hair stylist and a taxi driver in Quezon City lived like a rat in the sewers for two days before he was captured on Friday in the same barangay where the second victim was shot.

The Quezon City police found him after alarmed residents of Casa Milan Subdivision in Barangay Greater Lagro, Fairview, reported the presence of a man peering out of a drainage hole begging for food.

When pulled out of his hiding place, the man introduced himself as Larry Benuya, 38, and claimed that he was just “dumped” in the neighborhood after being robbed in a taxi, according to Supt. Dennis de Leon, commander of the Quezon City Police District’s Fairview station.

Investigators, however, remained doubtful of his given identity, citing his other incredible claims and the ID card he yielded, which contained his photo but bore the name of another person supposedly residing in Cabanatuan City.

The man’s yellow-green shirt, however, along with his other physical features, matched the descriptions given by eyewitnesses in the unprovoked attacks that killed Jake Brioso at Salon de Luxe in Barangay Pasong Putik and taxi driver Norberto Espiritu in Greater Lagro, De Leon said.

The QCPD-Fairview station was first alerted to Benuya’s presence in Casa Milan after a house helper in the village reported encountering a man in the drainage line asking her for water late Wednesday afternoon, about six hours after the twin killings.

The suspect eluded the village security guards who arrived first at the spot—but in apparent panic, he had  left behind several items, including an ID, an empty magazine for a .45-caliber pistol and a cell phone.

On Friday morning, Benuya “surfaced” and again asked passersby for food and water. This time, De Leon went to the site in civilian clothes and pretended to be a concerned resident when he approached the man.

When the drainage cover was lifted, Benuya was pulled out and immediately handcuffed. He was later positively identified by the salon workers as the man who shot the 31-year-old Brioso, De Leon said.

In a press briefing, QCPD director Senior Supt. Joel Pagdilao said Benuya would not say what drove him to kill but instead made other claims when interrogated, including membership in the communist hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade, who he said had Brioso among its targets.

Witnesses earlier said a male customer at Salon de Luxe was having a pedicure around 11 a.m. on Wednesday when he suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Brioso, who was just visiting his friends at the salon to invite them to his son’s baptism.

The man then fled on a passenger bus and got off in Barangay Greater Lagro, where he encountered Espiritu in his cab and shot him twice after the driver refused to let him in.

The salon worker who did the pedicure recalled that moments before the man went amuck he was angrily talking to someone on his phone concerning a child who had been hospitalized for a head wound.

“He may have mental problems,” Pagdilao said of Benuya. “We’ll check his medical history and why he was carrying a gun.”

Benuya’s given identity is also up for verification, the QCPD chief added.