Tale of a gruesome crime

Police say two of the three suspects in the killing of security guard Efren L. Ballesteros have confessed to the crime, saying that they attacked the victim with a piece of wood, a PVC pipe, and a rebar before breaking into several classrooms at Marianas High School where they stole laptops and money.

Detective Simon T. Manacop said that Eric Rabauliman, 18, and the first 16-year-old suspect made the confession during an interview with detectives at the Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Investigation Division Tuesday night.

Manacop said the juvenile had admitted that on the evening of Nov. 17, he first met up with Rabauliman in San Jose. They then walked to Chalan Kanoa where they met the third suspect, another 16-year-old male. All three are MHS students.

Rabauliman allegedly brought up the idea of stealing laptops from MHS. The three walked to MHS, but decided to first obtain weapons from an unfinished construction site within the campus.

The first juvenile suspect told police that he was armed with a 2×2 piece of wood, while Rabauliman got a half-inch diameter PVC pipe. The third suspect had the rebar.

The plan, according to the first juvenile suspect, was to knock out the security guard so they could take their time in breaking into the rooms and won’t be caught.

The three allegedly sneaked up on Ballesteros from behind as he was lying on the concrete bench along the hallway and attacked him. The first juvenile suspect was reportedly the first to swing the wood at Ballesteros. The wood immediately broke in half. Rabauliman and the second juvenile then began hitting the guard with their weapons.

Rabauliman stopped hitting the guard after his pipe shattered. The third suspect, however, continued hitting the guard with the rebar. The first juvenile told him to stop, but the latter reportedly replied he wanted to make sure that the guard was knocked out.

After the attack, the third suspect told the two to follow him toward the backside of Building A and B. The three reportedly got inside room B201 and 202 by opening a plywood that secured the top of an air-conditioning unit. After taking several laptops, they then proceeded to the JROTC Building where the second juvenile said they might find money because fundraising tickets had been sold.

The second juvenile threw a rock on the glass window, then climbed through it and unlocked the door. The three got $100 and one laptop.

After taking the items, the three again checked Ballesteros, who was still lying on the bench.

The three went out the campus the same way they went in. They walked along the beachside toward the home of the second juvenile in Chalan Kanoa District 4. When they got to the house, they hid all the laptops in the bushy area just behind the residence.

The second juvenile changed his shirt and told the two to go with him to Chalan Kanoa District 3 so he could give one of the laptops to a friend in exchange for money.

The first juvenile reportedly told police that while they were walking through Welcome Laundry, a police officer stopped them then took the laptop they were carrying.

Detective Manacop said that, shortly after the confession, detectives went to the residence of the second juvenile where they recovered the stolen laptops hidden in a bushy area. Manacop said these laptops were the same ones stolen from MHS. He said police recovered five laptops, but seven are still missing.