Man probed for drugs confesses to killing American national

GEN. SANTOS CITY–A 35-year old man being investigated after police arrested him for illegal drugs and gun possession on Tuesday had confessed to another crime – the killing of an American national last month.

Chief Inspector Aldrin Gonzales, Central Mindanao police spokesperson, said Lito Simudong, a resident of MC Village in Barangay Fatima here, told investigators of the city police’s Station 7, where he was being detained after his arrest, that he had killed and buried the victim – identified as Frank Cruz – with the help of two other persons.

Gonzales said Simudong confessed that they robbed Cruz and buried his remains in a shallow grave in Barangay Fatima. He said he had confessed because his conscience had bothered him.

Cruz was a 73-year-old American citizen from Guam and the regional sales coordinator of American firm, American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC), who went missing here on February 28.

“It was a case of personal gain and robbery,” Gonzales said of the murder of Cruz, whose remains was unearthed, when Simudong led authorities to the grave on Tuesday.

“The decomposing remains of Cruz, whose head was wrapped with packing tape, and whose hands were tied behind the back, was found beside an abandoned house in the village,” Gonzales said. Simudong owned the house but abandoned it last month.

Senior Insp. Fernando Manuel Jr., the Police Station 7 chief, said Simudong had identified his cohort as a Hiwen Buntuyan Borja and his daughter, who was a minor.

Both Borja and the young girl remained free and were being located, according to Manuel.

Additional charges were now being brought up against Simudong.