The .40-cal. pistol used in the killing of Maritoni Fernandez’s sister matched the one recovered from her slain boyfriend, the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) revealed on Wednesday.
This was the initial finding of the ballistic comparative examination conducted by the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory on the gun taken from Leandro Antonio “LA” Kanahashi, who was killed in a shoot-out with the police on Sunday following a buy-bust operation.
According to QCPD director, Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, the shells recovered from the site where Fernandez’s sister, Aurora Ma. Moynihan, who was found dead last month, matched those taken from Kanahashi’s gun.
“This is just an initial result and we will know the final result in a few weeks but it is good that we already have a lead,” Eleazar said, noting that this linked Kanahashi to Moynihan’s murder.
“It means that he had something to do with her death but we cannot yet identify if he was the one who killed her,” he added as he clarified that Kanahashi’s participation in his girlfriend’s death was still unclear.
Eleazar said that they were still trying to determine if he worked with other suspects in killing the victim.
The 45-year-old Moynihan was found dead on Temple Drive corner Giraffe Street in Barangay Ugong Norte, Quezon City, on Sept. 10. The footage taken by a closed-circuit television camera in the area showed her alighting from a dark gray Toyota Fortuner before she was repeatedly shot by someone inside the vehicle.
Beside her was a piece of cardboard with a warning that drug pushers catering to celebrities were next.
Moynihan’s relationship with the suspect was established by the text messages found in her cell phone. The police considered Kanahashi a person of interest in her killing since he was one of the last persons spotted with her before her death.
According to sources, Moynihan’s family suspected him of having a hand in her death.
Kanahashi and a still unidentified companion died early on Sunday morning after he allegedly shot at narcotics operatives in a drug bust on Mapagpakumbaba Street, Area 7 in Barangay Botocan.
The pair yielded 10 sachets of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride), a .40-cal. pistol and .38-cal. revolver.
Kanahashi reportedly had a reputation for selling shabu and party drugs in Quezon City and other cities in Metro Manila.