MANDAUE CITY, Cebu— Did self-confessed hitman Jinnefer Mercader escape the Medellin District Jail to gun down Jenalyn Encila?
The police here have reasons to believe so.
Police Colonel Julian Entoma, director of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), said they received information of supposed sightings of Mercader in Barangay Labogon in this city an hour before Encila was killed at around 7 p.m. last Wednesday, March 6, 2019 while disembarking a taxi cab near her rented house in the same village.
Read related story: Jocelyn Encila’s sister shot dead near house in Labogon, Mandaue
“Ang atong informant ingon siya nga dunay lalaki sa area nga dunay patik sa liog. Ato pa na nga gi-verify kay di man pod siya ka-ingon kung unsa gyud nga patik basta kay naay naklaro kay nag- T-shirt ra man,” Entoma told CDN Digital in an interview.
Entoma said their informant saw the the man they believed to be Mercader around 5 p.m. on Wednesday. He said the informant saw the said guy allegedly lingering near the crime scene carrying a helmet.
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He added that they have yet to find other witnesses who may verify if the man who was sighted was indeed Mercader.
“Duna gyud nay possibility kay he escaped Monday (March 4) then gipatay ni siya (Encila) two days after,” Entoma said.
Done to scare Jocelyn
Entoma said the possibility of Mercader being Encila’s gunman is not remote, considering that Mercader, according to the drug matrix released by Police Regional Office Cengtral Visayas (PRO-7), is allegedly under New Bilibid Prison Inmate Rustico Ygot, who is tagged as the source of the drugs confiscated from Encila’s sister, Jocelyn.
Read related story: High-risk inmate from Borbon escapes Medellin Jail
He added that the killing of Encila might be Ygot’s message to Jocelyn to be silent in order to prevent more fatalities in her family.
Entoma said the information on Mercader’s possible involvement in Encila’s death is a vital part that will significantly help their investigation. /bmjo