The National Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that jealousy is seen as the primary motive behind the gruesome murder of Christine Lee Silawan, 16, in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu.
NBI Region VII director Attorney Tomas Enrile said in an interview with Dobol B sa News TV that the 17-year-old suspect already admitted to the crime, although without the assistance of a lawyer.
Enrile added that, based on their investigation, they can say that jealousy is the main reason why the suspect was able to do such a crime.
Earlier reports stated that the suspect was nabbed by NBI in Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City on March 16.
NBI did not disclose the name of the suspect as he is a minor but text messages and security footages helped them track his whereabouts.
However, the mother of the suspect strongly denied that her son has any involvement in the brutal crime.
In another interview with SunStar Superbalita Cebu, the mother of the 17-year-old said that her son is not a killer and the CCTV footage that the NBI released does not prove anything since it did not show his face.
The mother also said that her son was not even with Silawan on the day she got killed. He also was not at the scene of the crime when the murder happened.
She claimed that her son played basketball, helped fix their house’s roof, ate dinner, and then slept on the night of the crime.
The mother added that her son and Silawan were indeed a couple but they only lasted for a week.
Senior Supt. Bernard Banac, a spokesman for the PNP, also said that they now consider the murder case “solved”.
“Masasabi na natin na (We can say that) the murder case is solved,” he said.
However, he clarified that they are still on the lookout for two other possible suspects.
