Niece arrested for 'bag woman' murder

MANILA, Philippines - A niece of a woman whose body was stuffed in a traveling bag and dumped along a road in Caloocan City was charged yesterday for murder.

Senior Superintendent Jude Santos, Caloocan City police chief, said they have a “hard case” against Ruby Imperial, 23, niece of murder victim Neria Salapang, 29, both residents of Good Harvest Subdivision in Camarin, Caloocan City North.

“We have a very strong case against the suspect. Aside from the witnesses, circumstantial evidence and forensic examination results all pointed to her,” Santos told The STAR.

Early Saturday morning, Salapang’s body was found along Road 38 in Congress Village, Barangay 173 stuffed in a black traveling bag.

Her neck had strangulation marks and her legs were tied with electrical cord. Beside her body was a piece of cardboard with a message claiming the victim was a “cheat.”

Police later learned that the dead woman was Salapang, whose seaman husband recently died abroad. The couple left behind a six-year-old daughter.

Chief Inspector Rodrigo Soriano, Caloocan City police investigation unit chief, said when police checked on the victim’s house they found her room smelled of dried blood while Imperial was nowhere to be found.

The victim’s child reportedly told police that she saw the suspect, the night before her mother’s body was found, washing her blood-stained shirt and her mother’s bedsheet.

Police arrested Imperial at around 2 p.m. Wednesday at the victim’s newly built house in Bagumbong, also in Caloocan City, and recovered from her several receipts for pawned jewelry.

Soriano said they also learned the suspect withdrew a large amount of money using the victim’s ATM card.

“The pawning of the jewelry and the bank transaction were done a day after the killing,” Soriano said.