The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) is considering various motives behind the killing of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Randall “Randy” Echanis and his neighbor, although based on their initial investigation, a personal grudge or robbery led the killers to commit the crime.

Echanis, 71, and Louie Tagapia, 48, were found dead inside an apartment in Barangay Nova Proper, Novaliches, Quezon City around 1:35 a.m. on Monday (Aug. 10).

In a press briefing on Wednesday evening, police said Echanis might have only been dragged into the incident as Tagapia was possibly the only target of the killers.

‘Personal grudge’

“The other angle naman po na tinitingnan natin, ito ay ano, personal grudge. Kasi itong si Louie Tagapia, mas matindi ‘yung ano sa kanya, tama. At saka parang may galit sa kanya. So di natin masabi sa ngayon kung paano nadamay itong si Randall Echanis, kung papaano nadamay (The other angle that we’re looking at is personal grudge. Because Louie Tagapia sustained more stab wounds. It seemed like the killers had a grudge against him. So, we can’t say yet how Echanis became involved),” QCPD Director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo told reporters.

Police said they came up with the assumption because Tagapia had just been released from jail a few months ago over drug charges. He also bore a tattoo identifying him as a member of the Sputnik Gang, a group of criminals involved in drug and weapon trafficking activities, among others.

“Echanis and Tagapia were living on the second floor of the apartment they were renting. Before going to Echanis’ room, one had to pass through Tagapia’s room first. So, if you notice, it was Tagapia who was tied and not Echanis. Based on our initial investigation, the killers first went inside Tagapia’s room and when Echanis saw, killers might have also gone after him,” QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) head Maj. Elmer Monsalve added in Filipino.

Robbery?

Police said they are also looking at robbery as another reason behind the killings, and added that the victims might have known their killers because there was no sign of forced entry into the victims’ rooms.

“‘Yung mga modus kasi na ganoon, karamihan akyat-bahay. Tapos nagising, ganoon. Kaya napilitan sila na manlaban, kaya humantong sa ganoon, na patayan (Incidents like that, most of them are home invasions. Then perhaps the victims were awakened and forced to fight, and that led to their killing),” Monsalve said.

Killers ‘forced their way’

However, militant group Anakpawis refuted the police’s claim that there was no forced entry.

In a statement Thursday (Aug. 13), the group said that after Echanis’ killing, they immediately dispatched some people from their group as well as barangay officials to look into the crime scene.

They said they found a broken doorknob which they said proves that the killers barged into Echanis’ room. They posted on their Facebook page a photo of the broken doorknob.

Real identity

Echanis was previously identified by police in their report as Manuel Santiago, based on an ID recovered from him and on their interview with his landlady. But after a fingerprint test on the cadaver and a fingerprint on Echanis’ ID was provided by his family, police said Santiago and Echanis are “one and the same person.”

Montejo said Echanis might have had a reason for hiding his real identity, and it will be investigated if this had something to do with his killing.

Echanis was a peace consultant of NDFP, a coalition of revolutionary social and economic justice organizations, agricultural unions, trade unions, indigenous rights groups, leftist political parties, and other related groups in the Philippines. He was involved in the peace talks with the Duterte administration from 2016 to 2017.

Montejo said he did not know Echanis.

Citing interviews, Montejo said Echanis had just moved in and been staying for free at his landlady’s house since July 20.

Cause of death

Based on their initial investigation, police said the two were stabbed to death, although Echanis’ death certificate states he died of gunshot wounds.

Police said they did not recover any fired cartridge case or bullets at the crime scene. However, they said they are still waiting for the victims’ autopsy results to know how they were killed.

Echanis’ body bore gunshot and stab wounds as well as torture marks, according to his widow. In a photo posted by Anakpawis on their Facebook page, Echanis also sustained swollen eyes.

“Dalawang gunshot wounds, mayroong 21 puncture wounds at merong 12 na saksak. ‘Yun ‘yung pagkakaalam natin (Two gunshot wounds, 21 puncture wounds, and 12 stab wounds. That’s what we know so far),” Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said in an interview Wednesday after a candle lighting ceremony for Echanis was held outside Pink Petals Funeral Homes.