Police are eyeing revenge as one of the motives behind the killing of a nursing student and two nursing graduates in Caloocan City.
Nursing graduates Mona Ismael, 22 and Glydel Belonio, 28; and nursing student Arjay Belencio, 22, were found dead with several stab wounds inside a house under construction in Amparo on Sunday.
Four construction workers are being treated as persons of interest by the police after one of them, Dingding Sarmiento, was fired a week before the incident when he was caught by Belonio sniffing shabu, Caloocan police chief Dario Menor said.
The persons of interest were identified by Northern Police District chief Brig. Gen. Ronnie Ylagan in a press conference as brothers Anselmo Singcol, Adonis Singcol, and Alden Singcol.
"Anselmo Singcol alias Kalbo, siya yung stay-in sa construction site, but nawala po siya after noong incident (he's the one staying in the construction site, but he's no longer there after the incident)," Ylagan said.
Police said it did not find any forced entry in the crime scene. Menor added over 24 Oras interview that the suspect/s might have entered through the kitchen where several knives were also recovered.
"Mayroon pa rin kaming narecover na isang kitchen knife at basahan na may mga dugo. It seems na may ipinunas, pinagpunasan ng dugo (We also recovered a kitchen knife and a piece of cloth with blood stains. It seems it was used to wipe blood)," Menor said.
Police said two of the four persons of interest are already under custody. They are Alden and Adonis who went to Caloocan police to give their statements regarding the incident.
Authorities initially ruled robbery as the motive behind the killing because the ATM cards where the workers' salaries were being sent was missing.
But the police found that the victims' mobile phones were not taken away.
Belonio and Belencio were staying in the house of a relative living abroad. Ismael, on the other hand, was reportedly just visiting when the incident happened.
The crime was discovered when the victims were not responding to phone calls prompting a neighbor to break into the house to check.