Court sheriff's killers still at large
Three weeks into their investigation, police authorities have not yet arrested the gunmen in the killing of court sheriff Johnny Tugado.
Two unidentified gunmen shot and killed Tugado as he was about to alight from his car in the garage last July 13 in Oton town. From the police's initial investigation, the killing was job-related.
The gunmen have already been identified, and there is an ongoing manhunt for their arrest, provincial police director, Supt. Melvyn Mongcal told reporters Tuesday.
Although Mongcal refused to divulge their identities, he described the suspects as facing robbery cases with pending warrants for their arrest, and one of them has a record at the Iloilo Rehabilitation Center.
He said that their focus is on arresting the gunmen.
"Once we capture or arrest the persons responsible for the crime, then that would be the time we discover the persons behind, the connections behind the killing," Mongcal said.
Mongcal said that, at the moment, the mastermind cannot yet be identified.
"Our focus is on the three (gunmen). Once they have been arrested, they will be the ones who can disclose the persons behind the killing."
Copies of the suspects' pictures were furnished the National Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting a separate but parallel investigation.
Mongcal stressed that they are taking their time, following the advice given by the victim's wife, lawyer Althea Tugado.
"She told me not to rush our investigation because the crime would not prescribe anytime soon," Mongcal said.
"She advised me to go deeper in our investigation and complete the evidence so they can secure a conviction once the case is filed in court. So we will follow her advice," Mongcal added.
The sheriff and his wife had just arrived at their house in Sto. Niño Subdivision at around 6 p.m. when two gunmen barged inside and shot the victim, who was about to alight from the car.
The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds in the head and the body. He was brought to the Iloilo Doctor's Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Recovered from the crime scene were empty shells from .45 cal. and a slug of unknown caliber. Tugado's colleagues had called for a speedy resolution of the killing.