BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Four farm workers, including a minor, were caught by the police in Sagay City for allegedly killing an American man and his Filipino wife.
The arrest came hours later after the decomposing bodies of the victims were retrieved from a well near the victims’ house.
Police identified the suspects as Randy Nunez, 25; Raymart Medel, 18, and his 17-year-old brother, all of Purok Dahlia at Barangay Puey, and Randy Perez,19, of Barangay Bato, all in Sagay City.
Chief Inspector Eduardo Corpuz, Sagay City Police chief, said the suspects admitted to the killing of 58-year-old Kevin Fleischauer, and his wife, Lolly, 60, residents of Villa Emmanuel at Barangay Blumentritt in Murcia town of Negros Occidental on August 4.
After a search at the one-hectare farm, the body of the American was first discovered in the 20-foot-deep well in the morning of August 17, while the body of his wife was also fished out from the same well later in the afternoon.
Corpuz said Nunez and the Medel brothers were the first to be arrested in a compound in Sagay City at around 9 a.m. Monday. Perez, the fourth suspect, was arrested in his house at 9:25 a.m. Tuesday. “There was no resistance from the suspects because they were caught by surprise,” said Corpuz.
Recovered from the suspects’ possession were P15,000 cash, $461 bills, assorted jewelry, two laptops, five cellphones, an MP3 player, a 9-mm Parabellum pistol with one magazine and seven live bullets, a wallet, a cellphone charger and an electric grinder.
Corpuz said the help of the community led to the arrest of the suspects. “We received information that the suspects are from Sagay. We coordinated with the Murcia Police for the hot pursuit operation,” he said.
According to Corpuz, the suspects said they earned very little while working for the couple. They said they then robbed the victims, who however caught them, prompting the suspects to hit the victims with a piece of wood and then dumped the bodies.
It was not determined if the victims were already dead or still unconscious when their bodies were thrown into the deep well, said Corpuz, adding that the police were preparing robbery with homicide charges against the four suspects, who are now in custody of the Murcia Police Station.