Evidence in actor's death points to suicide

MANILA, Philippines - Though investigators have yet to release their findings on the death of 27-year-old actor Tyron Perez, the initial results of two tests indicate he may have committed suicide, a police official said yesterday.

Senior Police Officer 3 Armando Delima said that the Northern Police District crime lab already have the results of the paraffin test on Perez and the ballistic examination on the .22 caliber revolver recovered beside his body but it would still be confirmed by the Camp Crame crime lab.

“All indications, from testimonies of the witnesses including Perez’s kin, and the circumstances within the victim’s car, point to a suicide, yet these are not conclusive unless the official findings of the crime lab would come out,” Delima said.

Delima declined to divulge the results of the NPD crime lab findings, claiming that it would only be released once verified by the Camp Crame crime lab.

Perez, a GMA-7 Starstruck reality show talent before he joined ABS-CBN’s Star Magic, was found by his friends Jonathan Koo and Priscilla Salazar on the back seat of his black Toyota Altis (ZSP-675) parked near his friends’ house, where he had been staying after he and his wife quarreled.

“The victim’s car was locked inside and we needed to break its glass window to open it. Nothing shows there was a struggle and nothing was also taken from his things,” Delima said.

According to Salazar, a few days before Perez was found dead, he confided to her about his problem with his wife, Liv Espino Perez, and of his debt in a casino.

Liv admitted to having had marital problems and that the victim called her before he died.