Richard King Murder Related Stories 4b5q1q

King shot dead BY JOVY T. GERODIAS Published on June 13, 2014

BUSINESSMAN Richard L. King, the owner of Crown Regency Group of Hotels, was shot dead inside the Vital C Building on Sobrecary St. in Davao City at 6:45 p.m. yesterday. Major Warren Dablo of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Davao said that King, 57, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He died on the spot. The CIDG and the local police in Davao are tly investigating the attack. In an interview with SunStar Cebu last night, Dablo said that based on the team’s initial investigation, King was in Davao for the closing ceremony of the wellness training for Vital C, one of his many business ventures. King was chairman and chief executive officer of J. King & Sons Co. Inc., developer of Crown Regency, Club Ultima and the City Suites Ramos Tower. He was also the founder and Director of Boracay Muttiple Properties Inc. He was eating with his employees and the participants and guests at the ground floor of the two-story building when the gunman, who was not wearing a mask, walked in and shot King several times. After the attack, the gunman, described to be about 5’5” tall and with medium build, fled on board a black XRM motorcycle driven by a companion who was waiting outside. Dablo said the building has no security camera. There was also no security guard on duty when the attack happened. Witnesses are helping the police in coming up with an sketch of the gunman, Dablo said. Dablo said the t team is still establishing the motive of the attack, but they are not discounting the angle that the attack was business-related. King was a popular business figure in Cebu and had appeared in the news several times. In 2002, he accused then Regional Trial Court judge Agapito Hontanosas of soliciting P250,000 for a favorable court decision in relation to a writ of attachment on property he filed against Nelson and Lucy Go.

Nelson and Lucy were business partners of Roderick Go who, according to King, owed him P97 million and allegedly tried to kill him. In 2004, Richard and his three brothers sued Sun.Star Cebu Public Standards editor Pachico A. Seares and columnist Elias Espinoza for writing allegedly malicious statements linking the Kings to the seized pseudoephedrine. The complaint against Seares was eventually dismissed. In 2007, Richard and brother Rafael accused then Lapu-Lapu City mayor Arturo Radaza of asking for a P15-million bribe from a contractor (Nelson Yu), who reportedly got four big projects in the city worth P500 million. The accusation prompted Radaza to file charges of grave threat and violation of the Anti-Wiretapping Law against the King brothers. In November 2012, of an indigenous people’s group in Boracay claimed Richard hired armed men to attack their community and destroy the fence they had put up. The Kings built a Crown Regency Hotel and Resort in Boracay. In September 2012, King was ordered by the Office of the Building Official in Cebu City to stop construction work of an 18-storey building in Barangay Lorega after the soil beneath the sidewalk caved in. Amid the controversies, Richard, a chemical engineer, was known for implementing new concepts in the hotel industry. Crown Regency Hotel and Towers is the first of its kind to feature amusement facilities, including a roller coaster-like ride on the top floor of its 40-story hotel tower. In 2006, Richard proposed a water theme park at the South Road Properties to then Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña. (With reports from RCT/JGA)

t probe BY DAVINCI S. MARU Published on June 15, 2014 POLICE have formed the Special Investigation Task Group Richard King to identify and arrest the suspects who killed the businessman in Davao City, a top police official said yesterday.

Senior Supt. Vicente Danao Jr., Davao City Police Office (DO) director, said the task group, composed of investigators in Davao City and Cebu City, will fast-track the resolution of this high-profile case. “Magtutulungan kami para malaman din natin kung sino ang nagpapatay sa kanya (We will be helping each other),” he told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview. As of yesterday, Danao said, they had yet to zero in on the motive, but they’re looking into King’s business dealings and personal relationships. A cartographic sketch of the gunman has been shown to King’s family, but this will not be released to the media while police are conducting a follow-up operation. Description The gunman, according to witnesses, is in his 30s, at least 5’5” in height, weighs at least 65 kilos and has fair complexion. During the interview, Danao said they were looking for the driver of the motorcycle, who is possibly a native of Davao City. “Yung gunman siguro was an import kasi he blatantly displayed his face. Hindi siya natakot magpakita ng kanyang mukha (The gunman was probably from out of town since he wasn’t afraid to show his face),” he said. King’s remains arrived in Cebu City yesterday morning and were brought to the St. Peter’s Funeral Homes on New Imus Road, where his wake is being held. The fatal shooting of King, his employee said, came as a “complete surprise” to the family because the hotel chain owner didn’t receive any death threats. “Wala gyud na siya’y nadawat nga death threats before that I know,” said Edward Tan, marketing and communications head of J. King and Sons Co. Inc. The businessman’s family has begged off from facing the media for security reasons. Some police officers and private security personnel were deployed at King’s wake. “Lisod man gud kaayo kay wala gyud sila kahibaw kung unsa ang motive (They still don’t know the motive for the attack),” Tan said.

Despite King’s death, his projects will continue and his siblings will take over his dealings, Tan said. King was the chairman and chief executive officer of J. King & Sons Co. Inc., developer of Crown Regency, Club Ultima and the City Suites Ramos Tower. He was also the founder and director of Boracay Multiple Properties Inc. Tan, who has worked with King since 2006, described the businessman as a visionary. Burial “Before, ni-warn ang mga tawo nga tyrant daw siya. Isog (They warned me that he was a tyrant). But once you got to know him, he was very calm and considered you part of his team,” he said, adding that King was like a brother to him. King also served as a godfather during Tan’s wedding. When he learned about the shooting, Tan said he was initially in denial. He didn’t know King was in Davao because the businessman liked to travel alone. Tan said King also didn’t have a security escort when he went to Davao City for a dinner gathering of Vital C, where he was a major shareholder. “Simple ra kaayo na siya. Wa gyud siya magexpect sad siguro (He was a very simple person. He probably didn’t expect to be killed),” he said. The family, Tan said, initially decided to bury King on June 18 at the Cempark in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City. King left behind a wife and two children, ages 16 and 21.

King ‘gunman’ caught in Davao BY IVY C. TEJANO, BEN O. TESIORNA, AND RUJI PETER S. ABAT Published on June 24, 2014 FIVE witnesses in the murder of businessman Richard L. King identified two of three men who are now in police custody, following the surrender of a selfconfessed accomplice last Sunday.

A charge of illegal possession of fi rearms was filed in Davao City yesterday against Paul Dave Molina Labang, 24, of Toril. Witnesses singled him out from a police line-up and identified him as the man who walked up to King last June 12 and shot him in the head. A separate murder complaint is still being prepared. As of yesterday, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 neither confirmed nor denied the role of a police officer in King’s murder. The self-confessed accomplice has said it was a police officer who called the triggerman to look for and kill King in his Barrio Obrero office. Rommel dela Cerna, 39, surrendered to the police last Sunday and claimed that in the afternoon of June 12, Labang received a phone call from a police official instructing him to look for the businessman at his office in Barrio Obrero. P1.3M reward Edward Tan, spokesperson of the King family, declined to comment on the arrest. “No comment lang usa ko ana sa investigation. Let them do their work first. In time they will release an official statement,” Tan said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu. PRO 11 spokesperson Chief Insp. Jed Clamor declined to comment on the alleged involvement of a police officer, pending a case conference with Chief Supt. Wendy Rosario. When asked who got the P1.3-million reward, Clamor said he also has no idea and that only Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will decide that. The Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) arrested around 10 a.m. last Sunday two other men whom Dela Cerna pointed to as the other accomplices in the killing. (Dela Cerna was also described as a police asset.) Surrendered Arrested apart from Labang was Rommel’s brother Rodel dela Cerna, a motorcycle driver, at the Laud Firing Range in Maa. A source, who refused to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak about the case, said the three suspects are workers of the Laud Firing Range,

adding that Rommel went to the Davao City Police Office Friday morning to report the crime. SPO1 Richard Dionisio and PO2 Welquin Enciso, in a t affidavit, said their office received a phone call around 9 a.m. Sunday, informing them a man with what seemed to be a firearm bulging from his waist was seen along the road in front of the Laud Firing Range. Police went to the scene and spotted Labang; they said they subdued him before he could pull out his gun and fire. Recovered from his possession was a loaded .45 A Series 80 Colt Mark IV pistol (serial number FN33020), along with a magazine with seven live rounds in his bag. Rommel said he was the first one who searched for King inside the Vital-C building. After confirming that the businessman was in the building, Labang then entered the office and allegedly shot the victim in the head. Continuing Witnesses earlier said they saw the man milling outside the office door, but no one paid much attention thinking that he was a companion of one of their fellow distributors, with whom King was meeting that night. Clamor said the alleged gunman and the motorcycle driver were placed in a line-up, and five witnesses identified Labang as the one who shot King. Rodel was identified as his driver. Both men are currently detained at the Davao City Police Office. Rommel is detained at the Sta. Ana Police Station. The investigation will continue. “Even if we arrested the alleged gunman, we still have to find out who is behind King’s death and if the gunman was just ordered to kill the victim,” explained Clamor in a phone interview. At 6:45 p.m. last June 12, King, who owned and operated the Crown Regency Group of Hotels, was shot dead inside the Vital C office on Sobrecary St. in Davao City by a lone gunman. Several people witnessed the attack. (With Jill T. Rabor)