Security guard slashed, shot dead inside showroom of property firm

MANILA, Philippines—Blood seeping beneath a glass sliding door led to the discovery of the body of a security guard, who appeared to have been shot with his own gun and whose throat was slit, inside the showroom of a real estate company in Manila Friday morning.

Manila police identified the victim as Salderico Marteja, 51, of D. Santiago Street in Paco. His forehead bore a bullet wound and his throat and left jaw were slashed.

Police also said the victim’s service firearm was missing.

Senior Police 2 Glenzor Vallejo, of the Manila Police District Homicide Section, said that two balut (boiled duck egg) vendors vendors were peddling their wares along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard in Sta. Mesa at around 1 a.m. Friday when they noticed the blood oozing from under the door of the showroom of the David M. Consunji Inc. Homes sales office on the ground floor of the JMT Building at the corner of RM Boulevard and Santol Extension.

Vallejo said the two vendors were alarmed by the large amount of blood but could not see through the glass door because their view was blocked by a half-open rolling steel gate. The duo sought the help of Barangay 587 Zone 58 officials, who promptly responded and found the bloody corpse.

Vallejo said Marteja, who was still in his uniform, was found seated on a metal chair leaning against a wall. His wallet and jewelry remained intact but his .38 cal. service revolver was nowhere to be found, the case investigator added.

Vallejo theorized that the killer may have used a knife on the security guard before finishing him off with the revolver and fleeing with the firearm.

Nobody in the area, the case investigator said, heard the sound of gunfire which had apparently been muffled by a transistor radio whose volume was turned up to its fullest.