Local execs pleased with closure on murder of 2 teens in Cotabato

MLANG, North Cotabato — Local officials were elated with what could be an apparent closure soon of the December 10 murder here of two children of a couple-school teachers.

The victims, Crizzle Gwynn Maguad, 18 and her brother, the 16-year-old Crizzule Luois, were bludgeoned with a baseball bat and repeatedly stabbed with a knife inside their home in Barangay Bagontapay here.

Major Realan Mamon, chief of the municipal police, told reporters Saturday an adopted member of the Maguad family, an adolescent female, had confessed to the brutal killing of the duo.

The suspect is now in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, according to Mamon.

Investigators said “sibling rivalry” could have triggered the killings. They declined to elaborate, however.

Authorities are still searching for a second suspect who is at large.

North Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmylou Mendoza said Saturday she is thankful to the personnel of the Mlang municipal police station and the officials of the provincial police office for cooperating in investigating on the incident.

“We share with the grief of the parents of the slain minors. With these developments, we are certain they can secure justice for their two children,” Mendoza told reporters.

Mendoza contributed P50,000 to augment the now P500,000 bounty that local officials raised for any information that would lead to the arrest of the killers of the Maguads, whose parents, Cruz and Lovella, are both public school teachers here.

“What is saddening here is that the primary suspect in the murder of the Maguads is an adopted family member who was treated like a `blood relative,’ cared for well by the family,” Mendoza said.