Murder raps filed vs Caloocan jail guard

The Caloocan City police filed murder charges yesterday against the jail guard, who claimed he accidentally shot last Saturday an inmate tagged as the gunman in the robbery-slay of TV cameraman Ralph Runez in July.

Caloocan City Chief Inquest Prosecutor Elner Susano found probable cause yesterday to indict Jail Officer 1 Ricardo Zulueta, 25, on detached service (DS) from the Caloocan City Jail and employed as driver of a Department of the Interior and Local Government official, when the crime was committed.

"All our information and evidence gathered, including our assessment of the re-enactment made Monday at the crime scene, pointed to murder," said Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, Caloocan police investigation chief.

As this developed, Cuaton also said charges of obstruction of justice have been filed against four Caloocan jail officers for unnecessarily delaying the entry of investigators at the jail premises immediately after the shooting.

Charged before the Caloocan City Prosecutors Office were Superintendent Emilio Culang, former Caloocan City jail warden; Senior Inspector Roniel Popera, duty senior officer of the day; Jail Officer 3 Nestor del Rosario and Jail Officer Victor Erick Pascua, duty jail guards.

Senior Police Officers 1 Antonio Paras and Raymund Mendoza of the city police investigation unit who rushed to the prison facility immediately after the shooting, said in a formal deposition they were refused entry by the duty jail officers on orders of Culang, who has since been sacked on orders of BJMP acting regional director Senior Superintendent Serafin Baretto that same day.

The officers said they were made to wait some two hours outside the jail premises before they were let in.

And when the guards did allow them entry, the investigators said they were led not to the crime scene, but to the warden’s office.

Only when the Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) team completed their work were they allowed to get near the crime scene.

Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, NPD director, ordered the immediate filing of the cases.

Among others, Zulueta’s version of Monday’s re-enactment at the Caloocan police detention cell, witnessed by Bataoil, was full of holes, probers said. "He contradicted himself a number of times."

"The first time, the guard said he accidentally squeezed the trigger as he tried to put the gun under the pillow after drawing it from the back holster as he lay down on the bed while Magnayon massaged his left hand. Now he is saying he pulled the trigger before putting the gun behind his head," said SPO4 Pablo Temena Jr, senior investigator.

As for the obstruction by the jail officers, the delay that resulted, Cuaton said, also led them to suspect that there was an obvious attempt to cover up the incident.

"There was obstruction in the sense that the administration of justice was delayed, compromised. It is my opinion that there was an attempt to cover up the shooting. By the nature of their work, they are not entitled to investigate and have no choice but to cooperate, not hinder us from doing our work," Cuaton said. — With Evelyn Macairan