Two killings in a row

The CNMI community was rocked yesterday with the news that a security guard was fatally shot by a masked man during an attempted robbery at Royal Poker in Afetnas, just one day after police discovered the body of Ana Maria Limes who had been killed in her house in Oleai.

James Patrick Deleon Guerrero, 39, of Chalan Kanoa, was shot in the back and was found dead inside the restroom of the poker arcade, where he had tried to hide from the armed suspect yesterday morning.

The male suspect was described as a 5’6” to 5’8” tall and was wearing a black mask that covered his face and a pair of military fatigue and gloves.

Photo shows the house of Ana Maria Limes in Oleai, where she was found with fatal injuries to the head on Monday afternoon. Police said they have a person of interest into her killing. (Ferdie de la Torre)

An off-duty security guard identifies the body that was loaded on a pickup truck for transportation to a morgue as his cousin, James Patrick Deleon Guerrero, a security guard at Royal Poker who was fatally shot with a handgun by a masked man yesterday morning. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Limes, 52, a former staff assistant of Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), meanwhile was found dead inside her house on Monday shortly after noon.

As of yesterday, no one had been arrested yet in both cases, but police disclosed yesterday that they have a person of interest in Limes’ murder.

Although two double homicide cases have already happened on Saipan, Department of Public Safety Commissioner James C. Deleon Guerrero said it’s his first time to encounter two homicides in a row in the CNMI. He also disclosed that the security guard victim was his first cousin.

In a press briefing yesterday, Deleon Guerrero said police responded at 5:47am yesterday to a shooting incident at Royal Poker, which is located on the ground floor of a two-story building at the corner of Beach Road, San Antonio and Afetnas Road.

Police discovered the body of the security guard, identified as James Patrick Deleon Guerrero, in the bathroom of the poker arcade.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the arcade’s female cashier saw the masked suspect walk in and fire a handgun at Deleon Guerrero.

Deleon Guerrero ran toward the bathroom, while the cashier hid under the booth.

Two more shots were fired, then the suspect abruptly fled the scene. Police officers were then contacted.

DPS Commissioner Deleon Guerrero said he has no information yet whether the suspect got any money from Royal Poker.

Deleon Guerrero said they have no person of interest in this case as the investigation is ongoing.

The commissioner said Guam chief medical examiner Aurelio Espinola, who was about to leave for Guam, was summoned to the scene where he pronounced the victim dead.

Espinola was on island because he conducted the autopsy on Limes on Monday night.

DPS acting spokesman Jason Tarkong said a review of the surveillance footage and witness’ account showed that it appeared to be an attempted robbery.

Before crime scene detectives removed Deleon Guerrero body from Royal Poker at 9:35am and transported it to the Commonwealth Health Center’s morgue, investigators summoned a male security guard, who identified the body as Deleon Guerrero, his cousin.

“We grew up together,” the teary-eyed cousin told Saipan Tribune. He was very quiet as he watched a pickup truck loaded with the victim’s body leave the scene on its way to the Commonwealth Health Center’s morgue.

The cousin said Deleon Guerrero just started work as a security guard less than a year ago. He said it was he who encouraged him to work with their company.

Deleon Guerrero used to cut grass and mow lawns for a living. His son and common-law wife were in Guam yesterday to visit her ailing mother.

The cousin said he immediately responded upon receiving a call about the incident.

He learned that the suspect shot the floor in the cashier’s booth, where the female cashier ducked.

He said the victim ran to the restroom and locked it, but the suspect possibly shot the door as he saw bullet holes in it.

Deleon Guerrero’s duty at Royal Poker that day was from 12am to 6am.

Royal Poker is located on the ground floor of a two-story building beside the former Labor and Immigration offices.

Family members started to arrive at the scene at 8:50am.

A woman who said she is Deleon Guerrero’s cousin described him as a hardworking person who has a lot of friends.

“I just saw him yesterday. He’s very helpful,” she said, adding that she could not believe that any person could do that to him.

She said her mother is like a mother to Deleon Guerrero when his own parents passed away many years ago. She said her mother was unhappy when the victim decided to work as a security guard because it’s a very dangerous job.

Limes homicide

In the first homicide case, police said the DPS 911 dispatch received a call on Monday at 12:12pm of a suspicious bloody room at the residence of Ana Maria Limes in San Jose or Oleai Village.

Patrol officers were dispatched and discovered a body of a woman at the entrance to the residence’s front living room door.

Fire/medics responded to the scene.

The victim showed signs of having been deceased for some time already, with fatal injuries to the head. The victim was later identified as Limes, 52.

There was information that an ax was used in the killing, but Commissioner Deleon Guerrero would not comment on the matter of the weapon.

Sources said Limes just married Syl Sablan two weeks ago.

The commissioner said they are not releasing any information with regards to the husband.

Sources said Sablan was arrested on Saturday for disturbing the peace.

A relative of Limes said they believe that Limes was killed either on Friday or Saturday. The relative described the victim as “a very nice person.”

Limes was a regular cultural dance performer at the annual Flame Tree Arts Festival.

Commissioner Deleon Guerrero said the past 24 hours have been an extremely busy period for the men and women of DPS.

“The full resources of the CNMI DPS have been put to bear with the outmost intention of resolving these incidents,” he said.

The commissioner encouraged all members of the community with information about the incidents to contact the DPS Commonwealth Bureau of Investigation at 664-9042 or 234-7272, if they wish to remain anonymous.