Carl Angelo Arnaiz (Photo from his Facebook account)
Slain 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz was shot five times in the torso area and was possibly killed while lying down, a police autopsy showed Thursday.
Northern Police District Crime Laboratory chief Police Supt. Arnel Marquez, in a briefing with reporters in Camp Crame, said five bullets pierced through the body of Arnaiz—two on the right part of the chest, one in the middle, one in the left, and one in the stomach—which caused his death.
The result of the police autopsy closely jived with the result of the examination done by the Public Attorney’s Office forensic experts.
READ: PAO autopsy: Carl Angelo Arnaiz was shot 5 times – 3 in the chest
Marquez said the trajectory of the bullets were upward, which either indicated that Arnaiz was either lying on the ground or standing on an elevated place, more than two feet away from the gun muzzle, when he was shot.
“Hindi po natin deretsahang masasabi na nakaluhod si Carl pero ang masasabi lang po natin tungkol doon sa direksyon nung bala ay yung reference po natin yung dulo ng baril o yung muzzle ng baril na mas mababa kumpara doon sa tao o si Carl,” he said.
(We cannot say that Carl was kneeling when he was shot but what we can say based on the trajectory of the bullet, using the muzzle of the gun as the reference point, was lower compared to the position of Carl.)
When asked if the shot in Arnaiz’s stomach was the last, Marquez said: “May posibilidad po dahil po yung direksyon po ng tama ng bala doon sa tiyan mas pataas kumpara doon sa mga tama niya sa dibdib.”
(There is a possibility because the direction of the shot in the stomach was in upward direction compared to those in his chest.)
The boy’s body also showed abrasions and hematoma in his right eye, and abrasions in the right part of his chest and lower back.
There were also bruises in Arnaiz’s wrists, which could mean that he was either handcuffed or gripped tightly.
These were inflicted before the teen died, Marquez said.
Marquez said the report could not determine how many suspects killed Arnaiz as there were no slugs recovered from the body.
The results upheld the initial crime laboratory findings the NPD disclosed during the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs on Tuesday.
Arnaiz, a former interior design student from the University of the Philippines, went missing on August 18, after going out for midnight snacks with a 14-year-old friend, Reynaldo de Guzman, who was found dead Wednesday in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija.
Arnaiz was found 10 days later, on August 28, at a morgue in Caloocan City after being killed in an alleged shootout with the police who were trying to arrest him for mugging a taxi driver. JPV