• THERESA MAE DULMAN
A love triangle is being eyed as primary motive behind the fatal shooting of a village chief in La Libertad, Negros Oriental, following the arrest of the suspect in Bacolod City Sept. 26.
Police identified the victim as Dennis Jimpayan, 40, punong barangay of Kansumandig, La Libertad, while the suspect is a 32-year-old construction worker, also from the barangay.
P/Col. Jonathan Abella, director of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NORPPO), said the shooting can be considered a crime of passion as initial investigation revealed that there was personal conflict involving a romantic entanglement between the two.
Investigators found that the woman living with the victim was also previously involved with the suspect, who is now facing murder charges.
Abella said there was no indication that the killing was election-related.
Jimpayan was shot dead Sept. 23 at Sitio Nabilog, Barangay Kansumandig, while he was on his way home. The suspect was positively identified by eyewitness as the gunman, the police said.
Operatives of the NORPPO, the Regional Intelligence Unit, and the Bacolod City Police Office captured the suspect at around 5:13 p.m. Sept. 26 at his workplace in Hacienda Hermilinda, Barangay Granada, Bacolod.
P/Capt. Stephen Jaynard Polinar, spokesperson for NORPPO, said Sept. 28 that the suspect was presented to the prosecutor’s office for inquest proceedings. | TMD
