PH, US probers join forces for Marine’s slay

UNITED States law enforcement officials are working with Philippine authorities in the investigation of the killing of an American Marine on Saturday, the US Embassy in Manila said yesterday.

US Embassy spokesperson Tina Malone said American law enforcers were collaborating with the Philippine National Police in its probe of the death of George Anikow, husband of a US diplomat, in the hands of four Filipinos over the weekend.

She did not specify whether US authorities involved came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as earlier reported.

“The Philippine National Po- lice is investigating this crime in accordance with Philippine Law. US Embassy law enforcement officials are working in close cooperation with the local authorities and will continue to assist them as their investigation proceeds,” said Malone in a statement sent via text message.

Four suspects, all in their 20s, were arrested for Anikow’s death just outside the gate of Bel-Air Village near the upscale Rockwell Center in Makati City early Saturday morning.

Security footage obtained by police showed that the four suspects—Juan Alfonzo Abastillas, 24, Crispin de la Paz, 28, Osric Cabrera, 27, and Galicano Datu III, 22—chased Anikow outside the Bel-Air gate and stabbed him after the latter tapped their Volvo.

Makati police, who intercepted the suspects at one of the exit gates of the village, recovered three knives from the suspects, including one tactical knife be- lieved to have been used in the killing.

Anikow was known to have served in the US Marines in Afghanistan until 2009 before his family moved to the Philippines.