3 motives eyed in 4-man murder

STA. BARBARA, Pangasinan — Homicide investigators have laid out three possible motives in the killing of a barangay chairman and three members of his family in Barangay Banzal, this town, last Tuesday night – a love triangle; illegal drugs; and cattle rustling. Chief Inspector Rex Infante, local police chief, said the killing of Banzal Barangay Chairman Cecelio G. Ballesteros, Jr., 56; his son Brian Jose, 34; brother Dinisio, 54; and brother-in-law Manuel L. Aquino, 36, could be a crime of passion as the barangay leader reportedly has three “wives.” Infante said probers also did not discount illegal drugs as a motive because his son was a drug suspect and that the family was allegedly being linked to cattle rustling in the town. Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed the four around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. (Liezle Basa Iñigo)