DNA test results pin down Baguio massacre suspect

BAGUIO CITY Police said they have enough evidence to pin down the primary suspect in the April 6 slaughter of five people, including three children, here, following the release of the results of DNA testing on blood samples taken from the crime scene. Dr. Jaime Rodrigo Leal, medico legal officer of the Crime Laboratory in the Cordillera, confirmed that the blood samples lifted from the place of the killings an apartment on 3rd Kayang Street, here matched with the swab specimen obtained from suspect Philip Tolentino Avino.

According to Leal, the confirmation was based on the DNA test results released to Senior Inspector Angie Amangan, DNA analyst of the Cordillera Crime Laboratory and team leader in the investigation of the massacre.

Leal said the DNA profile matched with the blood lifted from the plastic cabinet, bag, toilet, and the suspects short pants that was left behind in the crime scene.

The blood obtained from the belt of the suspect also matched with the DNA profile of victim Jacqueline Nociete who sustained 18 stab wounds in the body.

The blood from the crime scene and the buccal (mouth) swabbing of the suspect were the specimen subjected to DNA, Leal added.

The presence of the suspect DNA profi le in the crime scene is very vital in the prosecution of the suspect. The DNA test brings the suspect to the scene of the crime, Leal explained.

It can be recalled that Avino, alias Michael Geronimo, was subjected to physical checkup after he was turned over to the Baguio City Police Office by Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno on April 9.

During the checkup, Leal found out that the suspect had physical injuries.

He has wounds on the hands four on the right hand and three on the left. These injuries are significant because there are also blood spots that were seen on the scene of the crime, Leal said.

Avino was also identified by two witnesses who saw him knocking on the door of the apartment where the five victims, three of them children, were killed, around 3:30 p.m. on April 6, 2014.

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DNA test results pin down Baguio massacre suspect