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By Jovy T. Gerodias, Jujemay G. Awit, Liberty A. Pinili and Rianne C. Tecson
Friday, June 13, 2014


CEBU (Updated) - Businessman Richard L. King, the owner of Crown Regency Group of Hotels, was shot dead inside the Vital C Building on Sobrecary St. in Davao City at 6:45 p.m. Thursday.

Major Warren Dablo of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Davao said that King, 57, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He died on the spot.

The CIDG and the local police in Davao are jointly investigating the attack.

King was chairman and chief executive officer of J. King & Sons Co. Inc., developer of Crown Regency, Club Ultima and the City Suites Ramos Tower. He was also the founder and Director of Boracay Multiple Properties Inc.

He was eating with his employees and the participants and guests at the ground floor of the two-storey building when the gunman, who was not wearing a mask, walked in and shot King several times.

After the attack, the gunman, described to be about 5’5” tall and with medium build, fled on board a black XRM motorcycle driven by a companion who was waiting outside.

Dablo said the building has no security camera. There was also no security guard on duty when the attack happened.

Witnesses are helping the police in coming up with an sketch of the gunman, Dablo said.

Dablo said the joint team is still establishing the motive of the attack, but they are not discounting the angle that the attack was business-related.

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Davao police intel chief, 3 others charged for slay of trader Richard King
June 25, 2014 7:54am
   

A ranking police officer assigned to the Davao region and three others were charged Tuesday afternoon with murder for the June 12 killing of hotelier Richard King.

Senior Superintendent Leonardo Felonia was among four charged for the crime, RGMA's Raul Tolibas reported on dzBB radio Wednesday morning.

Felonia, who surrendered to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte late Monday, was relieved from his post as head of the Philippine National Police's Regional Intelligence Office.

He was also ordered to report to national headquarters for investigation, the RGMA report said.

On Monday, the police officer had presented himself to Duterte for "voluntary investigation."

A report by GMA Davao's Helen Quiñanola said those also charged Tuesday afternoon included:

- Paul Dave Labang
- Rommel dela Cerna
- Rodel dela Cerna

King reportedly owns the Crown Regency Group of Hotels.

His relatives and Mayor Duterte had offered a P1.3-million reward in exchange for information leading to the arrest of the suspected killer.

Labang was arrested Sunday, with GMA Davao reporting he confessed to the crime and sought forgiveness from King's family.

The RGMA report said Labang claimed Felonia contracted his services to gun down King.

Restrictive custody

Police Regional Office 11 spokesman Chief Inspector Jed Clamor said Felonia has orders for his restrictive custody in the PNP Intelligence Group in Manila.

"So as soon as he gets into Manila he will be taken into custody," Clamor said.

However, Clamor also said the police have no legal grounds for his arrest at this time.

"We will let the investigation run its course," he said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News

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P20 M to kill Cebu hotelier? Woman eyed
By Edith Regalado (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 26, 2014 - 12:00am


MANILA, Philippines - Police have received information that a hired gun was paid P20 million to kill hotelier Richard King last June 12.

Davao City police chief Senior Superintendent Vicente Danao Jr. said a businesswoman might have paid the hit man.

She could have contacted Senior Superintendent Leopoldo Felonia to allegedly look for a killer, Danao added.

Speaking to reporters at Camp Crame, Davao regional police director Chief Superintendent Wendy Rosario said the three arrested suspects have claimed that a police officer gave them P30,000 with instructions to kill King.

“But they did not know where the money came from,” he said. “Let us remember they are a mere gunman and lookout.”

Rosario said police investigators are looking into business, personal and other possible motives.

King was reportedly losing money in one of his businesses, a possible link to the murder, he added.

Investigators are determining the motive for the killing, Rosario said.

Police have charged with murder Felonia and three others implicated in the killing.

Others charged are alleged gunman Dave Paul Molina Labang; brothers Rommel and Rodel dela Cerna, the suspected lookout and the driver of the getaway motorcycle.

However, Rosario said they don’t have concrete evidence to pin down Felonia, only the statements of Labang and the Dela Cerna brothers.

“We will leave it to the appreciation of the prosecutor’s office,” he said.

“But we believe we have an airtight case against the suspects. Other than the confession of Labang, we don’t have concrete evidence to link Felonia to the murder of King. All we have is testimony of the self-confessed gunman and which was corroborated by the Dela Cerna brothers.”

Labang confessed to killing King for P30,000 allegedly on orders of Felonia.

However, Felonia denied any hand in the murder.

He surrendered to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte after Labang implicated him in the killing.

Felonia was relieved last Monday as chief of Regional Intelligence Unit XI.

Labang said Felonia made them believe that King was involved in the illegal drug trade.

He did not know who King was until the next day when his death was reported in the media, he added.

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Felonia was placed under the restrictive custody last Monday. "We're just now waiting for the release of the order,” he said.

“To make it clear, the lookout bulletin order isn’t an assurance na hindi na makakalabas ng bansa si Colonel Felonia but he is not allowed to go out even from Camp Crame unless the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief director authorized him so," Aquino added.

The purpose of the lookout bulletin order is to monitor an individual and not necessarily restrict him/her from leaving the country, while a hold departure order is needed to prevent an individual from flying out the country, which Aquino said only the court can issue such order.

Aquino said he is also coordinating with the former Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director Senior Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa, who is now the deputy chief for the Operations of the PNP's Intelligence Group, to ensure that Felonia is being watched 24 hours.

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"The case is considered solved dahil nahuli na yung gumawa ng krimen, but it is not yet closed dahil ongoing pa ang investigation. The SITG members, particularly the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 11 are already digging deeper into their investigation," Aquino said.

Aquino said the SITG also tapped the Anti-Cyber Crime operatives to also check the four cellular phones of the victim, and the cellular phones of some persons of interest, "which in due time we will inform you everything after we gathered all the information we needed and arrest the mastermind."

"The three suspects can be called members of the gun for hire dahil pumayag sila sa utos ni Felonia pero hindi masabi if they are experts sa trabaho nila, kasi hindi sila sanay. Napasubo lang daw sila kasi itong si Felonia laging nasa Laud Fire Range, which duon sila nagkakilala," he added.

When asked if Felonia and the other three suspects can be placed under a Witness Protection Program, Aquino said never for the police officer and Labang. He added that the dela Cerna brothers could be, but they still need to think about it.

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