Suspects in nurse’s brutal slaying arrested, charged
TWO of the main suspects in the brutal murder of a female nurse last February have been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and corresponding charges have been filed in court.
Agent Tim Rejano of the NBI district office in Dagupan said the two in custody are Erlinda Belgado, 69 and Gary Balvino, 36, a baker, while a third suspect, Richard Roque, 28, nephew of Belgado, remains at-large and is now the object of manhunt by the NBI.
The three are tagged as principal suspects in the slaying of Honeybee Hortaleza Belgado, a nurse of Zaballa Hospital in Binalonan, who is married to Mahogany Belgado, son of Erlinda.
The victim was killed, burned and her remains buried in a pigpen in barangay Balligi, Laoac town on February 6 this year.
Balvino has confessed to the crime.
Rejano said based on investigation, it was Balvino who hit the head of Honeybee with a piece of wood and strangled her with a rope while Roque disposed of the body.
Members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) of which Honeybee was a member told the NBI they last saw the victim entering the house of Erlinda Belgado.
Erlinda, who denied her involvement in the crime, was brought Tuesday to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Urdaneta City while Balvino remained under detention at the NBI in Dagupan.
The NBI said Roque used four sacks of corn husks to burn the body, after which he buried it in a pigpen at the back of Erlinda’s house.
Neighbors did not notice the burning body because Roque apparently poured sachets of shampoos to the body to mask the smell.
Rejano said although the body of Honeybee was not found, traces of blood were collected from the crime scene and analysis by forensic chemists of the NBI prove it to be that of the missing nurse.
Money was tagged as the motive with Erlinda allegedly harboring animosity over a decrease in her “allowance” from her son since his marriage to Honeybee six years ago and blamed her for the closure of a bakery business set up by Mahogany.
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