THE main suspect in the killing of a 24-year-old graduating computer science student of the De La Salle University-Dasmariñas last Tuesday was arrested yesterday by police operatives in Cavite.
Cavite Police Provincial Office director Col. Christopher F. Olazo said that suspect Angelito “Kulet” Erlano was tracked down in his hiding place in Purok 4, Bgy. Victory Reyes, Dasmariñas City around 10:40 a.m. yesterday.
Erlano is the man seen in a CCTV footage leaving the place where victim Queen Leanne Daguinsin was found dead.
Members of the Dasmariñas City Police Station and the Cavite PPO’s Provincial Intelligence Unit searched the house of the accused in Bgy. San Nicolas 2 on Thursday morning and recovered black shorts with white stripe, a blue t-shirt with the “Eagle” trademark and the victim’s black Sena backpack.
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. congratulated Police Regional Office 4-A director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez and the Cavite PPO for the immediate arrest of the suspect.
“We condemn this heinous crime and we will ensure that the perpetrator will be put behind bars and punished for the crime he committed. We also thank the public for the cooperation they made with the authorities and for the information that have provided for the arrest of the suspect,” Azurin said.
The country’s top cop maintained that they remain committed in maintaining peace and order and in observing human rights while they go all-out to give justice to the victim and her family.
Olazo said that Erlano has two criminal records, both involving robbery.
An investigation showed that the female caretaker of the Rolisa Dormitory where the victim lives discovered Daguinsin’s lifeless body covered with blood. The woman immediately reported the incident to the local barangay captain who in turn called up the police.
CCTV footages in the area showed that the suspect scaled the rooftop of the adjacent Aterrado Dormitory around 1 a.m. Wednesday before transferring to the second floor of the Rolisa Dormitory where he passed through a window to gain entry inside the victim’s room.
An autopsy report showed that the victim suffered a total of 14 stab wounds.
A P1.1 million reward was raised for the capture of Daguinsin’s killer.
