2 men nabbed for gun, ‘shabu’ linked to murder

Two men were arrested yesterday by police who said they may be linked to  Thurday dawn’s fatal strafing of a household in Lapu-Lapu City.

A .45 pistol and six small packs of suspected shabu were seized from Cyril Zamora, 28. Zamora’s 22-year-old companion Rogie Dilao yielded four  packets of white substance.

The two men are residents of barangay Ermita, Cebu City.

Chief Insp. Conrado Manatad, chief of the barangay Mactan police, said the two men were picked up after they were noticed standing a few meters from the Aying household at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

Police said they believe the armed men were there to finish off Jerome Aying.

Aying’s house was earlier strafed by  two men with whom Jerome had a bitter feud.

He later identified them as Demetrio “Onyot” Malingin and his brother Jay, both of sitio Saac, barangay Buaya.

During the gun attack, Aying’s wife  Prima stood up to check on her sleeping children and was shot in the head and killed but police believe  Jerome was the target.

Last Friday at  6:30 p.m.  Jerome’s eldest son Jomar saw two suspicious men standing a few meters from their house.

Fearing for the family’s  safety, Jomar called the police.

The two men had just left on a motorcycle when police arrived.

With the help of other police units, the Mactan police tracked them down to  sitio Angasil in barangay Mactan.

The two men, who were later identified as Zamora and Dilao, told police that they were in the area to collect money from Demetrio’s live-in partner.

Zamora said his  gun was for self-defense.

The two men denied owning the packs of suspected shabu that the police said were recovered from them.

Senior Insp. Zenaido Pastorfide Jr., homicide chief, said they will decided on Monday whether to file charges./CORRESPONDENTS NORMAN V. MENDOZA AND FE MARIE D. DUMABOC