Murdered EPD officer tortured, say probers

The police inspector who was found dead Saturday in Taytay, Rizal had been brutally tortured, his penis cut off and his abdomen emptied of its internal organs, police investigators said yesterday.

Because of this, Chief Superintendent George Aliño, Eastern Police District (EPD) director surmised that those behind the brutal slaying of Inspector German Hepuller, 37, could have been very mad at him.

"The killing could not have been done by people with stable minds," said Aliño." The suspects were very angry with him."

Aliño dispatched yesterday two teams of crack police operatives to work with the Taytay police in solving Hepuller’s killing.

He said they have "good" leads but did not give any timetable for his men to make the arrests.

The wife of the victim, Amelia and his mother, Salvacion, were cooperating fully in the investigation of the case but Aliño refused to reveal more details as it might preempt operations to arrest the suspects.

"We are working on all angles," said Aliño. "We are receiving bits of information regarding the case and we are closely coordinating with the Taytay police to crack the case as soon as possible."

Hepuller, assigned at the EPD operations division, left their house in Crestaville 11 Subdivision, Taytay, at past midnight last July 25 to buy milk for his daughter.

When he failed to return home after four days, Amelia and Salvacion sought the help of his superior officers, who led them to a male body found floating in the Pasig River floodway in Taytay, which turned out to be that of Hepuller.

Hepuller was wearing the same clothes he had on when he left their residence. His 9 mm automatic pistol was missing.

His hands were tied behind his back, he had injuries in the head and had been stabbed twice. Funeral parlor personnel who retrieved Hepuller’s body reported to Aliño that the victim’s penis was severed and his internal organs were missing.

Initial investigation showed that Hepuller, the president of their neighborhood homeowners’ association, attended a wake before he disappeared. – Non Alquitran