SAN PASCUAL, Batangas\u2014The National Bureau of Investigation has zeroed in on a suspect in the murder of former Inquirer correspondent Melinda \u201cMei\u201d Magsino, her father said.<\/p>\n\n
Danilo Magsino, 68, said the NBI told him on Thursday that investigators already have a lead in the case.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cBut we agreed not to divulge anything at the moment,\u201d the elder Magsino said.<\/p>\n\n
Magsino\u2019s family sought the help of the NBI in identifying her killers, and turned over to the agency some of the reporter\u2019s personal effects, including her cell phone and laptop, and those of her partner\u2019s, Benjie Reyes.<\/p>\n\n
In an earlier interview, Reyes, 60, Magsino\u2019s partner of three years, said the family preferred having the NBI handle the investigation rather than the police. Magsino\u2019s mother, Amelita, also has a relative working at the NBI who might help speed up the investigation, he added.<\/p>\n\n
An NBI agent, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Magsino\u2019s laptops and cellular phone were still being examined for threatening messages sent to her.<\/p>\n\n
He added that investigators have yet to identify the gunman seen on the CCTV (closed-circuit television) provided by the auto supply shop located near the spot where Magsino was shot dead Monday noon.<\/p>\n\n
The image showing the parked motorcyle that was later used as getaway vehicle was clear and so was the gunman\u2019s clothes, the agent said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Facial recognition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n \u201cWhat (the NBI) is doing now is facial recognition of the suspect,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n \u201cWe are also in the process of recovering the deleted messages in Magsino\u2019s phone and tracing the IP (Internet protocol) address of the threats she received on Facebook,\u201d the agent said.\u009d<\/p>\n\n But in its parallel investigation into the case, the Batangas police said the security cameras from the auto shop \u201cyielded nothing\u201d that could identify the gunman.<\/p>\n\n Supt. Dennis Esguerra, head of the Batangas police special task group on Magsino\u2019s killing, said the security cameras from the shop near the crime scene \u201cyielded nothing\u201d that could identify the gunman who escaped on a motorcycle toward Batangas City proper.<\/p>\n\n Esguerra said the police are still tracing the direction taken by the fleeing assailants, and are looking for witnesses willing to testify. They are also looking into Magsino\u2019s Facebook activities immediately before she was killed.<\/p>\n\n The elder Magsino said he believes \u201cpoliticians,\u201d whose illegal activities might have been exposed by his daughter could be behind the killing.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI\u201dm just wondering why (the killing happened) just now,\u201d he said of his daughter who worked as Inquirer correspondent from 1999 until sometime 2005. Magsino later wrote for local newpapers in Batangas and posted stories on her social media account.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chiropractic clinic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n On the side, the outspoken critic of local government officials, helped her partner, Reyes, run his chiropractic clinic in the home the couple shared in Batangas City.<\/p>\n\n At the journalist\u2019s wake held at her parents\u2019 home, friends, colleagues, relatives and local politicians expressed their views on the killing.<\/p>\n\n \u201c(The killers) meant to silence Mei,\u201d Magsino\u2019s uncle, retired Army general Pedrito Magsino, said.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIf there was anything (she) wrote without any evidence, as they now say of her, how come no one charged her with libel,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n Defaced<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The family was appealing to witnesses to come forward, he said, as it was unlikely that no one saw the gunman since the crime took place on a busy street at high noon in Batangas City. The family wished to see not only the gunman in jail but the mastermind as well, the elder Magsino added.<\/p>\n\n Reyes described Magsino as a \u201cperfect partner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n \u201cLet the authorities do their job. All I want is to give her a decent burial,\u201d said Reyes, who worked for hours to restore Magsino\u2019s facial features that had been defaced by the bullet that pierced her nape and exited through her left eye.<\/p>\n\n \u201cAt night, she used to lay her head on my chest,\u201d Reyes recalled. \u201cShe would say that if anything happened to her, the last thing she wanted to hear was the beat of the heart that loved her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n Politicians\u2019 denial<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Politicians named in Magsino\u2019s Facebook posts continued to deny any knowledge and part in her killing.<\/p>\n\n In a statement on Thursday, the family of Batangas City Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha said news reports implicating his family were \u201cbaseless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Politics was behind her killing, said Bauan town Mayor Ryan Dolor who deplored reports that, he said, dragged his name into the case.<\/p>\n\n \u201cMay gusto magpabagsak sa amin sa Bauan; gustong sirain ang pamilya namin (Somebody wants to pull us down in Bauan and destroy our family),\u201d said Dolor on Friday.<\/p>\n\n He said he came to know through friends that Magsino had been hitting him on social media, but that he did not bother to look at the posts.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI (and my father Herminigildo) never got mad and didn\u2019t (take) any actions against her,\u201d said Dolor, adding that the family did not have the capacity to have someone killed.<\/p>\n\n He said their real enemies were the \u201cgroups\u201d behind some of their political rivals. The groups were also behind Mei\u2019s criticisms of them, Dolor added.<\/p>\n\n The mayor said Magsino did not personally know nor had met Bauan Councilor Kelvin Gimeno so there was never an issue between the two of them.<\/p>\n\n In Facebook posts days before her killing, Magsino said she had traced to Gimeno, Panganiban Jeff and Paradise Andrew the IP addresses of those who had been sending her obscene messages and photos.<\/p>\n\n RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n NBI: Magsino killing, killer caught on CCTV<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n