Another suspect tagged in rob-slay of young critics

MORE than six years after the cold-blooded killings of young film critics Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc, the Quezon City police has identified a new suspect in the robbery-homicide case.

In an interview on Monday, Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) homicide investigation chief Insp. Elmer Monsalve linked Danny Baclaan Lapitaje, 40, to the killings. He remains at large.

Lapitaje was identified after his fingerprints—taken after a house burglary in Antipolo, Rizal, in July 2014—digitally matched those lifted in 2009 from Tioseco and Bohinc’s home in West Triangle, Quezon City, a certification from the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory showed.

The development came as the primary suspect, the couple’s former house helper Criselda Dayag, was finally arrested in Angeles City, Pampanga, last Thursday based on a tip received by authorities.

Dayag was turned over to the Quezon City police on Friday. She and three other unidentified male accomplices are facing criminal complaints at the Quezon City Region Trial Court Branch 100 for the Sept. 1, 2009, killings of Tioseco, a Filipino-Canadian; and Bohinc, a Slovenian.

The couple were shot dead inside their house on Times Street by burglars. Another house-helper who had been tied, blindfolded and locked up in a room by the suspects later testified against Dayag.

Dayag was found to have been involved in other robbery cases before and after the twin killings, Monsalve noted.

It was her modus operandi to apply for work as a maid and then after two or three weeks, give her accomplices access to the house where she worked.