Sketch of Lauro’s killer out today

CEBU, Philippines - The police will release today the sketch of the face of the gunman who shot dead Crisanta Lauro, the lover of Pio V. Corpus, Masbate mayor Herminigildo Betonio III, in Cebu City recently.

Cebu City Police Office acting director Senior Supt. Mariano Natuel said witnesses helped describe the gunman.

The gunman and the driver of the get-away motorcycle, Natuel said, belong to three gun-for-hire groups.

“Duna ta’y tulo ka mga gitutokang grupo sa gun-for-hire diri sa Cebu nga miyembro sila,” Natuel said.

Aside from political and personal grudges, Natuel said they have now included business as one of the possible motives behind Lauro’s death.

Lauro, 39, is a real estate broker and ran a business in Quiapo, Natuel said.

He said the police are still collecting information that would lead to the identity of the mastermind.

Betonio himself and Placer, Surigao del Norte former mayor Charry Mangacop, who still claimed to be Lauro’s husband, are being considered as possible masterminds, including those who are linked to Lauro, Natuel said.

Leny Betonio Eser, Betonio’s sister, and a town councilor in Pio V. Corpus, who survived last Monday’s ambush, also revealed vital information that may help the investigation, said Natuel.

Early Monday morning, Lauro and Eser were aboard a taxicab that would supposedly take them to Talisay City when two men on a motorcycle, who didn’t bother concealing their faces, shot Lauro to the head and chest. Eser was wounded in her palm.

After the shooting, Eser reportedly uttered words to the lifeless Lauro that they should have not gone to Cebu because they were being shadowed.

Mayor Betonio came to Cebu City on the same day and took Lauro’s body back to Masbate. Mangacop also arrived last Wednesday and asked police to solve the crime immediately.

The former Placer mayor also called on Mayor Betonio to turn over his four kids and his cars that Lauro took with her when she left Mangacop last December.  (FREEMAN)