Habitual offender Joseph Acosta Crisostomo has also been linked to the 1995 kidnapping and murder of a couple that owned a store in Dandan. In that case, the man was shot repeatedly; his wife was strangled.
As this developed, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho postponed yesterday Crisostomo's preliminary hearing to today, Wednesday, for the 2012 murder and kidnapping of bartender Emerita Romero. The judge set the new hearing date after court-appointed defense counsel Colin Thompson withdrew due to conflict as he is representing a witness in the case.
Multiple sources disclosed yesterday that authorities reopened the investigation into the killing of Zhao Ming Hou and his wife Yu Hua Huang after a woman told the Federal Bureau of Investigation about Crisostomo's possible involvement in that case.
When asked yesterday whether Crisostomo is also a suspect in the murder of Hou and Huang, Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Thomas Blas Jr. said the Special Homicide Activity Resolution Partnership team will be working on all unsolved homicide cases.
“Cases with the highest probability of resolution will be acted on immediately. All leads will be investigated,” Blas said.
He said he has no information if Crisostomo is linked to any other case as of this time.
“As investigation progresses into these cases and when information is available and appropriate for disclosure I will let you know,” the DPS spokesman said.
Hou and Huang were owners of the Ming-Hua Market in Dandan. Hou and Huang were found dead in separate areas in Kagman 3 on March 29 and 30, 1995.
A source disclosed that prior to the discovery of the couple's bodies, a woman was allegedly seen dropping off Crisostomo at Ming-Hua Market area at 8pm.
Crisostomo returned to his house later at 3am and “looked dirty.” Crisostomo was allegedly carrying a backpack that contained thousands of cash, as well as boxes of cigarettes.
The source said that Crisostomo was a friend of the couple as he regularly visited the store to sell them some items.
According to police records, on March 29, 1995, at 10pm, police received a telephone call regarding a dead person in a Kagman III homestead lot leading down to Tank Beach.
Hou's body was found at the entrance gate of one of the homestead lots. His body had multiple gunshot wounds.
The following day, March 30, police officers found the body of Huang in an abandoned car in Kagman.
Autopsy showed that Hou died from a gunshot wound to the head. Like Romero, Huang died due to strangulation.
Investigators found out that Ming-Hua Market was burglarized prior to the discovery of the bodies.
Saipan Tribune visited the store yesterday afternoon and found out that Ming-Hua Market was already closed and the new owners now called the establishment Saimei Market.
Crisostomo has also been linked to the killing of Bao Ying Chen whose naked body was found at Laulau Beach on Nov. 23, 2006. An autopsy determined that she died of asphyxiation by drowning.
Police arrested Crisostomo on Friday for the kidnapping and murder of Romero. Romero was reportedly kidnapped near her house in Garapan on Feb. 5, 2012. Two days later, FBI agents found her body at the abandoned La Fiesta Mall in As Matuis.
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