PNP identifies gunman in Nueva Ecija killing

MANILA, Philippines — Police are closing in on the gunman implicated in the murder of a man and a woman whose charred bodies were found in a burning car in Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija last week.

Col. Ritchie Claravall, Nueva Ecija police chief, said the killer of businesswoman Regine Espinosa and Michael Odchigue, a member of the Palayan City disaster risk reduction and management office, has already been identified.

“He turned his cellphone off, but our operatives are already on his tracks,” Claravall said during a news briefing at Camp Crame yesterday.

The man, whose identity is withheld as operations continue, is allegedly hiding in Central Luzon.

Claravall said it is not the first time that the gunman was involved in a hit job as he has been linked to other killings.

Five people were earlier arrested and charged for the murders.