AUTHORITIES have ruled foul play on the death of a couple, their two children, and a sister of the wife who were all burned inside their residence on Tuesday evening.
Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) Spokesman P/Lt. Col. Ivan Viñas confirmed this in an interview this morning.
Viñas said investigators are now establishing the identity of the suspect.
“We will look into all possibilities to identify the culprit and the motive for the killing,” Viñas said.
He said Cocpo is prioritizing this investigation due to the heinous character of the incident.
“Kini tungod kay adunay mga physical (evidence) nga nakita sa lugar sa krimen sama sa kutsilyo, sundang, galon nga walay sulod pero nanimaho og gasolina, ug uban pa,” Viñas added.
He said Cocpo is still waiting on the autopsy report to be submitted by the Scene of the Crime Operatives.
It can be recalled that residents at Sitio Lower Sumpong, Barangay Indahag were alarmed when they saw a residential house was on fire.
Bureau of Fire and Protection-10 spokesperson Samson Vilarde identified the victims as Melgene Galpo, 31, his wife Aslyn, 30, and their two sons Yolem, seven, Jolo, four, and Aslyn’s sister, Maggie Epanes, 25.
It was learned that Maggie had just graduated from a criminology course at Phinma School.
All the victims’ remains were recovered by the responding rescuers in a room of the said house. They were already burnt beyond recognition.
Scene of the Crime Operatives theorized that the victims were killed first before they were burned as indicated in the wounds on their bodies.
The Galpo couple, it was learned, had just gotten married on June 24 during the Kasalan ng Bayan sponsored by City Mayor Rolando Uy.
Authorities will also determine whose footmarks and shoe prints they noticed outside the house.
Police also speculated that the suspects might have an extreme hatred towards the Galpo family.
A certain CJ Galpo, brother of Melgene whose house is nearby, said days ago the said family was victimized by a still unidentified culprit.
Taken from them according to the brother were a mobile phone and some amount of money.
For his part, Police City Director Salvador Radam immediately ordered his investigators to dig deeper to identify the suspects.
Meanwhile, City Mayor Rolando Uy, who went to Bollozos Funeral Homes where the bodies were brought, told the victims’ surviving relatives that he would shoulder all the expenses for the victims.
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