Suspect in slay of Cavite mom, kid falls in Samar

Ruel Cabatingan. EASTERN SAMAR POLICE

Hours before Ruel Cabatingan surrendered to police in Eastern Samar province on Thursday, policemen in Cavite province read Facebook posts affirming their belief that he was behind the killing of Ruby Gamos, 37, and her 7-year-old daughter, Shaniah Nicole.

Supt. Janet Arinabo, spokesperson for the Cavite police, said a part of the post allegedly written by Cabatingan read, “sorry mommy at anak ko (and my child).”

He also mentioned about his plan to surrender to authorities, vowing that “justice will be served,” the message said.

Arinabo said the Facebook post could no longer be accessed, but police were able to take some screenshots.

At 8 a.m. Thursday, the Cavite police received a call from the Eastern Visayas police telling them that Cabatingan had turned himself in.

Admission

Cabatingan, a 36-year-old overseas worker from Imus City in Cavite, surrendered to the Borongan City police in Eastern Samar a day after the Cavite police filed a case of double murder against him at the Imus prosecutor’s office.

He was named suspect in the killing of Gamos and Shaniah Nicole, who were found inside their house in the gated Kensington Subdivision in General Trias City, Cavite, on Dec. 11.

Investigators, however, believed they were killed on Dec. 8, based on autopsy results. Gamos died from a blow to the head while Shaniah Nicole was strangled.

Cabatingan turned himself in to Chief Insp. Cirilo Nicart Jr., operations chief of the Eastern Samar police, at 7:30 a.m.

Nicart, in a telephone interview, said Cabatingan admitted killing Gamos and her daughter but did not say what pushed him to commit the crime.

“He admitted to the crime but told me that he would only speak about it before the court,” Nicart said.

He said the suspect had been staying with his older brother, Fernando Cabatingan Jr., in Barangay Maybacong, Borongan, since Dec. 14.

“His brother was not aware that he was involved in the crime. But when he learned about it [through news reports], he convinced him to surrender to us,” Nicart said.

Arinabo said social media was a big help in the investigation.

She said for the past weeks, they had been following the online activities under the Facebook account “Ilyttaafe Rubyel,” an apparent play on the names “Ruby” and “Ruel.”

The account contained photos of Gamos and Cabatingan together, some taken in an apartment that police later traced was in Barangay Alapan in Imus, just a kilometer away from the Gamoses’ house. There were also photos of Cabatingan and the child taken in what looked like a playroom.

Ruby’s husband Marlon, a seafarer who was abroad when the crime happened, identified Cabatingan from the photos as his high school batchmate.

This explained why the police, who earlier said the suspect could be someone known to the victims, failed to find any sign of a forced entry.

“(Cabatingan) was also an ex-boyfriend of Ruby (before her marriage),” Arinabo added.

‘Not intentional’

Arinabo said neighbors frequently saw Gamos and Cabatingan in the Imus apartment, “sometimes, coming even very late at night.”

A member of the investigating team, who declined to be named for lack of authority to speak to reporters, said the murder “may have not been intentional” and may have only been triggered by a fight between Gamos and Cabatingan.

“The husband was scheduled to come home in two months,” he said. —With reports from Joey A. Gabieta and Robert Dejon