Rape-slay suspect shot dead

CEBU, Philippines - A tricycle driver who was accused of rape with homicide was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen at Pototan town in Iloilo.

Gaspar Asuero, 45, of Barangay Cauayan in Pototan, succumbed to two gunshot injuries on his jaw. Police reports said a woman boarded Asuero's tricycle and asked to be brought to Bagacay village around 11a.m. of Sunday.

Senior Superintendent Ariel Corcino, chief of the Pototan Police, said an informant saw that when the woman was about to alight from the tricycle, two motorcycles suddenly stopped near the Asuero's vehicle.

One motorcycle, with two riders, stopped some five meters behind the tricycle, while the other motorcycle, with a lone rider, stopped opposite the tricycle.

The backrider of the first motorcycle drew a gun and walked towards Asuero while the driver of the other motorcycle also pulled out a gun. It was the latter who shot Asuero at close range.

The woman immediately boarded the motorcycle with the two riders and the four of them sped off to undisclosed direction.

Asuero was reportedly one of the five suspects behind the rape-slay in Pototan of 24-year-old Mae Ann Gumban, worker of a Boracay-based hotel, whose body was found on September 19, 2013.

Gumban, whose body was found slumped face down with her shorts and blouse undressed, took a three-day leave from work and went home to Pototan where she visited her grandmother. (FREEMAN)