2 teens arrested in MHS murder

Police arrested early yesterday morning two teenagers who were allegedly involved in the killing of security guard Efren L. Ballesteros at Marianas High School in Susupe.

Assistant attorney general Rebecca Warfield told Saipan Tribune that the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Bureau detectives picked up the suspects: Eric Rabauliman, 18, and a 16-year-old male who has been identified as a student at MHS.

Warfield said the minor will be charged as an adult. The Saipan Tribune will for the moment withhold publishing the name of the 16-year-old suspect.

She said Rabauliman and the minor were brought before Superior Court presiding judge Robert C. Naraja on charges of murder in the first degree or also felony murder.

“They committed murder while attempting to commit a felony, which is burglary and robbery,” she said.

Naraja imposed no bail for each of the defendants.

Sources said investigators are looking into the involvement of another person.

Warfield said the case is still under investigation and that it could be that Rabauliman and the minor are the only people involved.

“But until we confirm that for certain, we are still continuing our investigation. We want to make sure that these are the only two people involved before the investigation is closed,” she said.

Warfield said there was some physical evidence at the murder site that connected the defendants to the killing of Ballesteros.

“Subsequently they were picked up based on identification and based on that physical evidence,” she said, adding that the physical evidence was recovered not at the scene but in another location.

Warfield said burglary was the motive and both defendants have already issued statements implicating themselves or suggesting that they were involved in the attack.

“Each defendant made a statement implicating himself in the attack and in the burglary and robbery. They both suggested that they both were involved in the attack,” she said.

“Our position is that the defendants went there for the purpose of burglarizing the school and once there, to be able to commit the burglary they killed the security guard and robbed him as well as burglarizing the school,” Warfield said.

She said they believe a blunt object was used in the attack, but that she is not prepared to release any information whether any weapon was recovered.

Warfield said the key to the early solution of the case was the very watchful eyes of a police officer.

The officer, she said, noticed something suspicious and investigated that “thing.”

“The investigation continued from there and then we were able to get community involvement to assist DPS in that process,” she said.

Warfield said the quick arrest of the suspects is a testament to how the police take crimes seriously and their commitment to protecting the community from violent offenders.

“I think they should be commended for being so committed and trying to resolve this ….I thank not only the criminal investigation officers but also a patrol officer who was key in making the initial observations,” she added.

Ballesteros, 45, a Filipino, received massive injuries to the face and head caused by some type of blunt object or objects, according to DPS yesterday.

Police Officer 2 Jason Tarkong said Ballesteros also suffered a possible fractured skull.

Tarkong said investigators who responded to MHS Tuesday morning discovered that several classrooms had been burglarized. These included rooms 201 and 202 in Building B and the JROTC Building, he said.

Tarkong said police first received a call about a dead person at MHS on Tuesday at 6:13am. When officers arrived, they saw the body and interviewed an MHS employee, Felipe Lacey, who first saw the victim.

Tarkong said investigation showed that Lacey came to school at 6am and, as he proceeded into the campus from the main gate, he found the security guard lying face down by a concrete bench under the main entrance hallway.

Lacey then called the police.

Tarkong said initial investigation showed that Ballesteros reported to work at 6pm Monday night and that he was last seen alive by a witness at 9:15pm.

After processing the victim at the crime scene, he was transported to the Commonwealth Health Center where Dr. Gregory Kotheimer pronounced him dead at 9:35am.

Ballesteros resided in Kannat Tabla with his common-law wife and two children. He was employed with Triple K Corp., which owns Global Security Agency.

Police learned that Ballesteros had been employed with Global Security for two years now as a security guard.