Third murder suspect falls

Police arrested Wednesday night a third suspect—a male juvenile—in the killing of security guard Efren L. Ballesteros at Marianas High School.

The 16-year-old suspect, who is also a student at MHS, was taken before Superior Court associate judge David Wiseman yesterday afternoon for a bail hearing.

Wiseman opened the hearing to the public after chief prosecutor Kevin Lynch informed him that the suspect is being charged as an adult. Although authorities have already released the names of the two juvenile suspects, the Saipan Tribune will for the moment withhold their names.

Wiseman imposed no bail and set the preliminary hearing for Nov. 26 at 9am and the arraignment for Dec. 1 at 9am.

Police Officer 2 Jason Tarkong said that police recovered evidence related to the crime during a search in the juvenile’s house.

Among the recovered evidence, Tarkong said, were personal items from Ballesteros and several laptops assigned to MHS.

“Weapons involved in the assault of the victim included a two-by-four [piece of wood], an iron rebar, and a shattered PVC pipe. These items were recovered and taken into evidence,” he said.

Detective Simon Manacop, the lead investigator in the case, was reportedly able to piece crucial evidence together that led to the arrest of the two juvenile suspects and Eric Rabauliman, 18.

Police first arrested Rabauliman and the first juvenile suspect early Wednesday morning.

Tarkong said the crucial evidence included a laptop computer that was recovered by Police Officer Mike Palacios, who was on routine patrol when the crime was committed. He said that Palacios came upon the suspects and the evidence at an undisclosed location.

In a separate report, Detective Manacop said that Palacios saw three male individuals walking out from the Welcome Laundry in Chalan Kanoa at 3:16am Tuesday.

After asking the names of the three, Palacios checked a black bag that was left by one of the males on top of a table inside the laundry. The officer saw a T-shirt with possible bloodstains placed on top of the bag. When the officer opened the bag, he saw a silver laptop with an identification tag “CNMI PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS, GOV’T NUMBER 29495 US.”

Another officer arrived to assist Palacios. The second officer reviewed the surveillance camera at the laundry shop. Palacios then secured the evidence and provided detectives with a description of the three male suspects in his report.

It was 6:13am of the same day, Tuesday, when DPS received the call about the dead security guard at MHS.

Later at 9:45am, another detective went back to Welcome Laundry where he obtained a copy of the recorded footage.

That night, DPS detectives divided into teams, with each one given a photocopied pictures of the three suspect. The images were taken from the video surveillance tape.

When detectives scoured the Chalan Kanoa area, many witnesses positively identified the three suspects.

Later that night, detectives went to the residence of Rabauliman and the first juvenile suspect in San Jose and brought the two to the police station.

During interview with detectives, Rabauliman and the suspect reportedly confessed to being responsible for the MHS crime.

Tarkong said a tipster also called the Crime Stoppers hotline and provided the name and information of the suspect(s) involved in the murder. He said this led to the interview and arrest of the first two suspects early Wednesday morning.

“I would like to recognize the hard work of Detective Simon Manacop, the lead case agent, Sgt. Sylvan Rangamar, the officer in charge of DPS Criminal Investigation Bureau, and their investigators for an outstanding job,” Tarkong said.

Tarkong also mentioned the good work of Patrol Officer Palacios for recovering the stolen items and the Crime Stoppers tipster who helped lead to the arrest of the suspects.

“Although arrests were made, the investigation is still ongoing and the release of any information regarding this case is limited,” he added.

Ballesteros, 45, a Filipino, was found dead by an MHS employee Tuesday morning. The victim was lying face down by a concrete bench under the main entrance hallway.

Ballesteros sustained massive injuries to the face and head caused by some type of blunt object or objects, according to DPS. The security guard also suffered a possible fractured skull.

Investigators who responded to the scene also discovered that several classrooms and the JROTC building had been burglarized and some items were stolen.