Lapu-Lapu City jail warden suspects foul play in death of Silawan murder suspect

Renato Llenes is presented to the media by the police at the PRO-7 office in Camp Sergio Osmeña in Cebu City in this April 2019 photo.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — An investigation on the death of Renato Llenes, the suspect of the killing of teenager  Christine Lee Silawan in March 2019, is being conducted to determine if there is possible foul play in the alleged suicide.

Llenes, who was arrested and admitted to the crime last April 2019, was found dead inside the comfort room of his detention cell at the Lapu-Lapu City Jail last Sunday, May 24, after purportedly taking his own life.

READ: Silawan murder suspect allegedly kills self

But Jail Superintendent Jessie Calumpang, jail warden of the Lapu-Lapu City Jail Male Dormitory, said there were suspicious circumstances found that made the alleged suicide questionable.

One would be that Llenes was clean and found without traces of saliva or vomit when his body was found.

“Usually, ang mag-hikog, mo gawas gyud ang dila (kung naay ihikot sa liog) and then mo suka unya ma-basa ang t-shirt. Kato siya, wala mo gawas ang dila, wala pud bisag laway lang nga gamay bisag sa sinina niya,” said Calumpang.

(Usually, the tongue of a person who commits suicide by hanging comes out and then he vomits and the shirt would usually be wet. [In the case of Llenes], his tonggue wasn’t out, there were no signs of even just saliva in his clothes.)

Calumpang is also questioning why three of Llenes’ cellmates were not able to hear noises from the comfort room.

According to Calumpang, it also could not be possible that Llenes may have developed enemies inside the jail as he already received death threats before he was transferred to a cell with lesser inmates.

Read: With death of murder suspect, justice ‘undelivered’ in Silawan case

Calumpang said they are waiting for the result of the autopsy of Llenes, which may arrive late Monday, May 25, 2020. /bmjo