Pagdilao declares Ingeniero a case of accidental death

Police Regional Office 6 director, Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr. has declared the death of Zosimo Ingeniero a case of accidental death after forensic examination results, witnesses' accounts of the surrounding circumstances and the evaluation of the crime scene by the Joint Investigative Task Group all point to a freak accident as the cause of the victim's death in Malinao, Aklan.
The task group supervised by Police Regional Office 6 director, Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., is composed of Aklan Police Provincial Director, Senior Superintendent Epifanio Bragais, Jr, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) investigators headed by Deputy Director for Operations Senior Superintendent Christopher A Laxa, 6th CIDG Regional Chief Senior Superintendent Benedicto Gorospe, Aklan Crime Lab Provincial Chief PSupt Georby C Manuel with Trajectory Expert Chief Inspector Medardo Palapo, CIDU Provincial Officer Chief Inspector Armie Agbuya and Malinao Chief of Police Senior Inspector Aileen Rondario.
Pagdilao also declared that there are no evidence to establish a relationship between the Ingeniero case and the killing of Lezo councilman Fernando Baldomero although the two deceased persons are cousins.
Pagdilao said that ballistic examinations conducted by the PNP Crime Laboratory Service (PNPCLS) concluded that all the .9mm empty shells and slugs including the one extracted from the head of the victim were all fired from the 9mm Ingram machine pistol that was recovered from the crime scene. The Ingram was also tested positive for gun powder residue indicating that it was recently fired.
Pagdilao also said that paraffin tests conducted on Ingeniero's right hand concluded that the victim was positive for gun powder nitrates (GPN) while his three drinking buddies during the fateful night, identified as Belcezar Relimbo, Magdaleno Albacino Jr and Suzano Albacino, have tested negative for GPN.
Trajectory analysis made at the slug extracted from the head of victim confirmed that the bullet, which hit the victim right jaw, was found to have fired in a slightly upward direction. The same conclusion was also made with the two slugs embedded in the trunk of the coconut tree.
A fingerprint analysis also found the presence of Ingeniero’s fingerprints in the Ingram machine pistol.
Polygraph exams conducted on Relimbo and the two Albacinos also yielded normal results.
Belcezar Relimbo later admitted in his testimonies that Ingeniero offered to sell the Ingram to him but he turned it down because he cannot afford it.
Ingeniero, 56, a village watchman from San Ramon, Malinao, Aklan was testing the Ingram but the machine pistol went out of control, hitting him under his right jaw at close range and the coconut tree where he had relieved himself. He was found dead the following morning by Relimbo.
Relimbo, who tried to conceal the Ingram and the 357 magnum of the victim, is now facing obstruction of justice charge for his act.Pagdilao said that based on the admission of Relimbo and with the support of forensic and testimonial evidence, the joint investigative task group is wrapping up its investigation with a conclusive finding that Ingeniero's death was purely accidental.