CIDG agents arrest chief suspect in lawyer’s murder

Agents of the regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-7) arrested last Friday the alleged mastermind and gunman in the killing of environmental lawyer Mia Manuelita Mascariñas-Green in Bohol last February 15.

Lloyd Lancer Gonzaga didn’t resist arrest when the agents served three arrest warrants against him inside a house in Davao City at past 3 p.m. last Friday.

“We finally found him,” Chief Insp. Hector Amancia, CIDG-7 deputy director, told Cebu Daily News over the phone.

The 34-year-old Gonzaga will be brought to the CIDG-7 office in Cebu City tomorrow before he is presented to the three courts that issued the warrants against him.

Judge Lindecita Arcamo of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 1 in Tagbilaran City issued an arrest warrant against Gonzaga for the crime of murder. No bail was recommended.

He is also facing four counts of attempted murder before Judge Leo Moises of RTC Branch 3, and illegal possession of firearms before Judge Jorge Cabalit of the RTC 48.

CIDG-7 agents coordinated with their counterparts in Davao City to arrest Gonzaga, a resident of Panglao town in Bohol.

Gonzaga was tagged as the mastermind in the killing of Mascariñas-Green, who was shot while driving home with her three children and nanny last Feb. 15.

Based on the investigation, Gonzaga was linked to the killing after he was seen in a heated argument with Mascariñas-Green inside the courtroom recently, police said.

Mascariñas-Green was the lawyer of Conrada Blomqvist, who sued Gongaza over a land conflict in Panglao town which is popular for its white-sand beaches in Bohol.