Police find 4 witnesses, 'solid' angle in murder of American

There are already four witnesses who could back a rather "solid" angle that investigators are now pursuing over the motive in the killing of a 68-year-old American and the wounding of his Cebuana fiancée at barangay Labangon Monday afternoon.

These four witnesses, two of them from Mindanao, could help validate evidences linking to the killing of Victor Noe and the wounding of Catalina Cabanes, said Supt. Pablo Labra III, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch.

Labra said investigators are getting closer to this "solid" angle in the case and, as investigations are almost done with their work, the City Police might be able to indict the perpetrators and possibly the mastermind soon.

Noe was gunned down while Cabanes was hit in her left temple sending her in serious condition to a private hospital in the city.

Cabanes' children, aged eleven and eight, said they saw a man in a blue mask fired at their mother and their American stepfather.

The gunman left his mask a few meters away from where Noe fell dead and escaped, with his backup companion who was waiting a few meters away from the scene, toward Salvador Street in barangay Labangon.

The man who shot the couple were reportedly identified already but authorities, wanting to be sure about it, had his face sketched based on accounts of witnesses the police already had, Labra said.

A possible motive in the killing might have links to the victims' plans to get married and to take into custody Cabanes' children who they wanted to take with them to the United States next year, said Labra.

Labra said that, aside from Cabanes' past relationship and the question of custody over the children, transactions over properties that the couple acquired recently have been investigated also but he refused to give details on the matter.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 has also launched an independent probe to help the City Police in wrapping up the investigation, according to C/Insp. Rex Derilo, of the CIDG-7. - Edwin Ian Melecio.