Jun Torres

Nat’l security exec’s kin found dead

A 41-day search missing relatives of National Security Adviser Norberto Conzales ended on Saturday afternoon at the bottom of a well in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija.

The bodiers of Rolando Gonzales, 60, and his wife, Imelda, 56, residents of Balanga City in Bataan, were identified by a brother of Rolando’s on Saturday. They were abducted on April 20 after hearing Mass at Balanga Cathedral.

Police said Rolando Gonzales was a third cousin of Secretary Gonzales, who reports directly to President Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang.

But Senio Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, Bataan police director, said the bodies would still have to be examined by investigators to determine if they were the Gonzales couple.

Participation

Gaerlan said grave’s found with the help of Allan Lopez, 35, of Magalang, Pampanga, who was arrested with four other suspects in Dinalupihan.

Lopez reportedly admitted to policemen his participation in the kidnapping and killing of the Gonzales couple.

Gaerlan earlier, said the victims were apparently abducted to force them to drop their demand for payment of some P900,000 that the suspects reportedly owed them.

He said the spouses were engaed in a money-lending business. Most of their clients were vendors in the Balanga public market, reports said.

3 stab wounds

dr. Jun Concepcion, who was tapped by the police Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) to do an autopsy, said the bodies found in the old well had three stab wounds each.

“Their bodies appeared to be still fresh and were not bloated,” Concepcion said. “They were readily recognized by a brother of the dead man.”

He said they were probably killed only “a few days ago.”

Killed days ago

Conception said the man’s hands were tied while his mouth was covered with packaging tape. The woman appeared to have been struck by a hard object in her arm and leg, he said.

Bone marrow samples and hair strands from the victims were taken and sent to Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, for analysis and identification, Concepcion said.

Chief Inspector Nick Malazzab, police chief of Sto. Domingo, said they began digging for the bodies last Tuesday. The well, between 30 and 40 feet deep, was probably used for drawing water for irrigation in the area, he added.

The bodies were taken to Bataan on Sunday.