Law enforcday evening the suspect in the murder of an elderly couple and their 15-year old granddaughter in Canlaon City, over the weekend.
The suspect, Robert Timoteo Montaño, Jr., 28 years old, single, and a resident of Barangay Quezon, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, was arrested around 9:05 p.m. Monday by a joint team of Canlaon City police, headed by its officer-in-charge, Supt. Frankie Jingle Lugo, and assisted by the Philippine Army.
Sr. Supt. Harris Fama, OIC provincial police director of Negros Oriental, said the suspect was arrested at Sitio Borlad, Barangay Quezon in San Carlos City.
Initial police investigation disclosed that the suspect was the foster son of the elderly couple, Erlinda Tabanao and Virgilio Tabanao, who was found dead Sunday afternoon, together with their granddaughter, at their home in Sitio Alibabay, Barangay Mabigo in Canlaon City.
In a hot pursuit operation, law enforcers found the getaway motorcycle used by the suspect, a Honda Dream, and owned by the late Virgilio Tabanao, abandoned at Sitio Borlad.
The police subsequently recovered from the suspect’s possession, following his arrest, items that belonged to the girl, namely, a striped backpack containing a shirt, a blanket, one unit Samsung GT-S3353 mobile phone, one small plastic bag containing a manicure set, a flashlight, a bunch of assorted keys, and a wallet containing a picture of the minor victim, two pictures of her parents, and assorted sim card holders.
The suspect is currently detained at Canlaon City Police Station for proper disposition and filling of appropriate charges before the City Prosecutor’s Office of Canlaon City.
Police investigators are still determining the motive of the killing, as well as investigating the alleged rape of the teenage victim before she was killed. (PNA)
