‘It was no accident, it was murder’

The shooting that resulted in the death of an inmate at the Caloocan City Jail shortly before noon last Saturday was no accident after all, police authorities said yesterday even as they sensed a potential cover-up.

Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, Station Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (SIDMB) chief, said the shooting was intended to kill the victim, Ernani Magnayon, 29, of Tala, Caloocan City, suspected triggerman in the robbery slaying of TV news cameraman Ralph Runez.

"Our assessment based on the re-enactment today, from the relative positions of both the victim and the suspect and the bullet trajectory, the shooting was no accident. The gun was pointed at the victim," Cuaton said. He said more evidence gathered from further investigation his office is still conducting could validate a "conspiracy theory" in the coming days.

The suspect, Jail Officer 1 Ricardo Zulueta, 25, of the Caloocan City Jail and resident of Quezon City, has been disarmed and is now in the custody of the SIDMB.

Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, Northern Police District (NPD) director, has also asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to join the investigation.

"We invited them to ensure that any impression of bias will be removed. NBI Director Nestor Mantaring has agreed to send a team of investigators to make an independent inquiry on the incident," said Bataoil, who rushed to the prison facility, a stone’s throw from the NPD headquarters.

The NPD chief said that it appears from the investigation that it was "too early to conclude it was an accident."

The re-enactment at 3:30 p.m. yesterday was made on the strength of an order from the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court. It was the second one made at the Office of the Chief of Operations, also used as a jailguards’ sleeping area, at the Caloocan City jail and was made primarily to satisfy the curiosity of the court, Cuaton said.

He added he was not content with the first one made last Saturday where Zulueta claimed he accidentally squeezed the trigger of his 9mm Beretta as Magnayon was "massaging" his hand. The bullet hit Magnayon in the right cheek and exited at the back of his head.

Zulueta claimed he brought the victim to the Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Medical Center. Magnayon was later transferred to the MCU Hospital where he expired at around 8:35 p.m.

Magnayon was one of the four suspects in the Runez rob-slay. Also arrested were Inspector Bryan Limbo and PO3 Aristotle de Guzman, the alleged master planners, and Charles Galarce, the original triggerman who backed out of the plan and has turned state witness.

The STAR gathered from Superintendent Mamerto Delloro Jr., acting city jail warden that Zulueta was on detached service (DS) from the jail and worked as driver to Undersecretary for Peace and Order Marius Corpuz of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Delloro replaced Superintendent Emilio Culang, who was sacked from his post immediately after the shooting,

The acting warden was quick to exonerate Zulueta, saying the shooting was an accident. He admitted he was not present in the area when the incident happened.

Bataoil also said Culang failed to reply when he tried to call him last Saturday.

Delloro defended Culang, saying his chief discarded his phone’s SIM card a week before the shooting and was using a new one when the NPD chief called to inquire about the incident. — With Pete Laude