ILOILO – More than one person was likely involved in the killing of 36-year-old businesswoman Claire Diergos and abandoned her in Barangay Inangayan, Santa Barbara – one driving her vehicle, the other a getaway vehicle.
“We believe she knew her killers,” said Police Major Raymund Celoso, Santa Barbara police chief, in an interview with Panay News.
Policemen of Santa Barbara are looking more into this theory.
“It is possible nga ang iban nga gamit sang biktima didto sa pihak nga salakayan,” said Celoso.
He said the picture is getting “clearer”.
Two bloodstained pillows were recovered in a creek near the area where Diergo’s sport utility vehicle was abandoned. Her family confirmed these were hers.
“Basi ang ulunan gingamit para ma-contain ang paglapta sang dugo,” said Celoso.
Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) also spotted traces of blood in Diergo’s bedroom – at Deca Homes Subdivision in Pavia, Iloilo – and in the receiving room that appeared to have been scrubbed clean.
“Indi pa tapos ang aton imbestigasyon. Padalman pa gid naton ini,” Celoso added.
A closed-circuit television footage obtained by the police from Deca Homes Subdivision showed Diergos’ car leaving around 4:20 a.m. on Monday (Oct. 25). It was unclear, however, who was driving it.
Celoso said all possible angles are being pursued, including the victim’s business dealings and love life.
On the other hand, Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office, sent more personnel to hasten the investigation.
On Tuesday, after the body was found, the police invited Diergos’ newly-hired house help Rodelyn Sumbong of Barangay Baclayan, New Lucena, Iloilo for questioning.
She last saw Diergos alive late Sunday night (Oct. 24), she told the police, and hadn’t seen her since waking up on Monday morning.
Sumbong was hired just that Sunday afternoon. She said Diergos, who had a three-year-old daughter, fetched her at the transport terminal in Barangay Tagbak, Jaro, Iloilo City and they had dinner in Oton town before going home to Deca Homes around 8 p.m.
If Sumbong were to be believed, she went to sleep soundly that Sunday night after Diergos told her to just leave the gate unlocked.
She denied having anything to do with the killing.
Based on the autopsy result, Diergos had multiple stab wounds: two on the neck, five on the left hand and two on the right hand, showing she resisted and fought back because of the defense wounds she sustained.
Police believed robbery was not the motive. No valuables were missing from Diergo’s house, probers said, except for her mobile phone that the assailants mostly likely took away so that investigators wouldn’t know who the victim was in contact with hours before she was killed./PN
