CEBU CITY – A couple was robbed and killed by two motorcycle-riding men in Mandaue City shortly before midnight last Sunday.
Michael Canes, 27, and his 24-year-old wife Fraldine Kate died on the spot. The couple was with their nine-year-old victim daughter during the incident but the girl was unharmed.
The incident happened at 11:50 p.m. in an intersection of A.C. Cortes and S.B. Cabahug Streets in Barangay Ibabao-Estancia, Mandaue.
The victims were heading home aboard a motorcycle driven by Michael. The attack was captured by a security camera.
In the video footage, Michael stopped in an intersection when the traffic light turned red.
A motorcycle boarded by two men then stopped beside the victims. The backrider suddenly shot Michael.
As the motorcycle boarded by the victims fell, the gunman got off and grabbed Fraldine’s bag.
The wife was shot at pointblank when she resisted. The assailants sped off after taking the bag.
Police Maj. Aldrin Villacampa, chief of the Centro Police station, said the girl may have been spared after she pretended to be dead. The girl stood up only after the assailants had left.
The couple owned a Ready To Wear (RTW) shop. They had just delivered some RTW items at the North Bus Terminal when they were attacked.
Villacampa said they suspect that robbery was the motive of the killing and that the assailants may have been tailing the victims.
Villacampa said they received reports that masked men were spotted in the victims’ house last Sunday.
Villacampa said investigators will also check if the killing had something to do with the arrest of Michael’s father due to illegal drugs.
Police Col. Julian Entoma, director of the Mandaue City Police Office, said they will dig deeper into the investigation since the couple was in the police’s drug watchlist.
Entoma said the couple had links to Jocelyn Encila, who was arrested last March after 10 kilos of suspected worth P68 million was seized in her home in Consolacion.
Entoma said that in the drug group, Michael was known as “Boss” while Fraldene was called as “Madam.” (Calvin Cordova)
