Ex-soldier nabbed for jeweler's killing

The Manila police arrested yesterday a former soldier after he was identified by a witness as the one who shot dead a jeweler in Sta. Cruz, Manila on May 12.

Homicide investigators Senior Police Officer 4 Eduardo Paterno and SPO2 Paul Dennis Javier nabbed Matthew de Torres, 42, as he was coming out of his house on Marzan street in Sampaloc.

A search of the suspect’s house, in the presence of barangay officials, yielded an unlicensed .38 caliber revolver.

A witness pointed to De Torres as the person he had seen at around 6:45 a.m. on May 12 put on a surgical mask and follow Danilo Pagsanjan into the Golden Valley building along C.M. Recto Avenue to prepare his jewelry stall. Shortly after, the witness heard two successive gunshots and saw De Torres holding a .45 caliber pistol and looking at a bloodied Pagsanjan. The witness told police he was familiar with De Torres since the suspect always visits his common-law wife Loida, who has a stall in the building.

The police learned that Pagsanjan had figured in an altercation with De Torres after Loida was arrested for allegedly acting as the collector of protection money on unlicensed stalls in the building. Pagsanjan reportedly said his stall was legitimate and refused to give protection money.

“The suspect could had planned the killing in retaliation for his lover’s arrest,” Chief Inspector Dominador Arevalo Jr. who heads the homicide section, told The STAR.

De Torres, who retired from the Army in 2006 after serving in the Presidential Security Group, denied the charges. Murder charges are being prepared against the suspect.       – Nestor Etolle