Love triangle in killing

POLICE now consider the best friend of slain call center agent Lynn Vi Ebarita as one of the suspects in her killing.

Police are withholding the name of the friend pending confirmation.

That was revealed yesterday by Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) Acting Director Orland Ualat, who said they are now focusing on “love triangle” as motive in the killing.

Ualat also said they are not discounting the possibility that money and drugs may also be the reason Ebarita was killed.

He said it is very likely that while Ebarita was inside Room 309 of Nikkei Garden Hotel, male killers went in and stabbed her to death inside the bathroom.

Although the close friend is not yet considered the principal suspect, Ualat told reporters investigators are still assessing if the she is an accomplice or an accessory to the murder of Ebarita.

Ualat also said that the victim’s officemates and family received text messages from her cellphone last Tuesday and Wednesday, when she was already dead.

Warning

He said the messages also bolstered police suspicion that the killers are Ebarita’s office-mates in TeleTech because he or she knew all of their cellphone numbers.

Ualat said a close friend of the victim received a text message that said, “pagbantay ikaw and sunod, tanan nag biga-biga sa akong bana akong pa-matyon (you’re next. I’ll kill all those who flirted with my husband.)”

TeleTech, however, allegedly refused to let police enter its premises. Investigators, Ualat said, can only talk to employees after their work hours.

Ebarita’s decomposing body was discovered four days after she was stabbed 24 times and stuffed in a garbage bag. The bag was left at the back of the hotel’s Room
309.

Scene of the crime operation (Soco) officers reportedly did not find evidence, even blood stains, in the room, which was thoroughly cleaned days before police discovered the crime.

The killers reportedly took all of the victim’s personal items except for her sandals.

In yesterday’s press conference, Ualat said the victim’s father is becoming suspicious of her close friend.

Very close

The father said the two were very close and did things together—going out together, eating together and even sleeping together—and yet the friend has not been able to provide police information.

He also said his daughter’s friend suddenly changed after her death.

Investigators said they found inconsistencies in the close friend’s statement. Ualat said he believes she is withholding information.

It was this friend who identified a certain Edna as the person the victim was supposed to meet inside Nikkei Garden Hotel.