Police baffled over death of New Zealander

ANGELES CITY — Lawmen here remain baffled over the case of a 42-year-old New Zealander who was found dead with a bullet wound in his head in his apartment in Barangay Baligago here last Saturday morning.

New Zealander Barry Garord was found lifeless at about 10 a.m. near the door of his apartment at 189-B Fatima st. in Sta. Maria Subdivision by his girlfriend, Analyn Rodriguez, 23, a bar girl in Baliuag, Bulacan, according to SPO1 Romeo Amarillo, chief investigator of the case.

Embalmers at the Galang Funeral Homes in nearby Barangay Dau, Mabalacat where the victim’s body was brought, told The STAR that a bullet seemed to have pierced through his right temple and exited through his left temple.

They said the victim was in shorts and T-shirt when his body was brought to the funeral parlor.

In a report, the police said a caliber .38 handgun with an empty cartridge and a slug of "unknown caliber" were found near Garord’s body.

Police said he was apparently about to enter his apartment when he was killed. His apartment key was still inserted in the doorlock when lawmen arrived.

Investigators who inspected his apartment found everything apparently intact.

Amarillo said Garord had been in the country for quite sometime. He was known to have sired two sons by his former girlfriend, the eldest of whom is now about nine years old.

Amarillo cited reports that on the night before he was killed, Garord had been drinking liquor with Analyn.

He quoted the foreigner’s neighbors as saying that he usually behaved oddly when he was drunk and that he would often leave his bicycle in bars after having too much to drink.

Amarillo said they have informed the New Zealand embassy about Garord’s death.

"We still have no clues on what happened. It could be that he was shot by someone else or he might have committed suicide," he said.

The incident has further heightened fear among city residents following a number of unsolved crimes here.

Over a week ago, a woman medical representative was stabbed six times by a holdupper at the parking lot of the Nepo Mall here.

The woman fought with the holdupper and despite her stab wounds, managed to lock herself up in her car whose windshield her attacker smashed before fleeing.

The victim, who could not drive anymore because of her wounds, flagged down a tricycle to take her to the St. Catherine’s Hospital where she eventually recuperated.

City residents have bewailed the growing number of holdups, car thefts and cellphone-snatching incidents. Senior Superintendent Jimmy Restua, city police chief, could not be contacted for comment. — Ding Cervantes and Ric Sapnu