Police: Cainta massacre suspect may have snapped after being accused as killer

The 24-year-old construction worker who was arrested for the Valentine’s Day massacre of a family of four in Cainta, Rizal may have committed the crime after one of the victims reportedly accused him as a killer. Rizal provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Manuel Prieto said on Wednesday this was one of their initial findings after interrogating suspect Fortunato Acibar Jr. “Parang lumalabas na motibo siguro e yung galit ng bata na laging sinasabi (ng) tiyahin niya, bakit siya nagpatira ng mamamatay-tao," Prieto said, quoting the investigators who fetched the suspect from Marinduque. (The motive is turning out to be that the young man always hears his aunt saying why they allowed a killer to live with them.) However, Prieto said the information has yet to be confirmed. "Walang makakakumpirma although yan ang sinasabi ng testigo na yan lagi ang binabanggit (No one can confirm this yet although that is what the witness said, that the [victim] is always saying that.)," Prieto said. In an interview over dwIZ radio, Prieto said the aunt and her husband were among the victims. Fortunato, a part-time construction worker, had been staying in at the victims’ house. Prieto said they are now coordinating with the police in Northern Samar, the suspect’s home province, to check his criminal records. On Monday, four persons were found dead inside their house in Cainta: Amado Acibar Sr., 45; his wife Elizabeth, 40; and children Pretchie, 10; and Amado Jr., 14. The police, acting on a series of tips, arrested Fortunato in an abandoned beach resort in Boac town in Marinduque province on Tuesday. “May tumawag kay Mayor Ilagan na concerned citizen na-sight sa Caloocan until finally may nag-tip sa aming intel operatives nakakita papuntang Marinduque," Prieto said. (A concerned citizen called Mayor Ilagan that the suspect was seen in Caloocan until finally someone gave a tip to the intel operatives that he was seen on his way to Marinduque.) "Nakipag-coordinate ako sa provincial director ng Marinduque. Nagkataon ang nagbigay ng tip sa police station sa Boac ay tricycle driver na naisakay ang suspect na nagpahatid sa nabanggit ni Col. Roque na abandoned beach resort na foreign national ang may-ari," Prieto said. (I coordinated with the provincial director of Marinduque. It happened that the person who gave the tip to the police station at Boac was a tricycle driver who happened to have the suspect as a passenger. The driver told Col. Roque that the suspect asked to be brought to an abandoned beach resort owned by a foreign national.) Suspect's accomplices Prieto said they are still determining if Fortunato acted alone or if he had accomplices in the massacre. After learning of Fortunato’s arrest in Marinduque, Prieto said he sent a team, accompanied by Fortunato’s cousin Joey Acibar, who managed to identify Fortunato. Prieto said he ordered the police team to bring Fortunato back to Metro Manila. Fortunato will be detained at the Cainta police station upon his return, he said. The police will most likely file murder charges against him, he added. Tricycle driver to get reward Meanwhile, Prieto said the tricycle driver who tipped off police about Fortunato will get a P100,000 reward offered by the Cainta town government. “Sigurado yan. Palagay ko pinaalam nang maigi ni Col. Roque ang pangalan ng tricycle driver na nagbigay ng tip (That is a certainty. Col. Roque was trying to get the name of the tricycle driver so he can get the reward)," he said. – VVP, GMA News