Suspect in Nueva Ecija priest’s murder nabbed

By Aaron Recuenco

ZARAGOZA, Nueva Ecija -- After almost four months of hiding, one of the suspects in the killing of father Richmond Nilo here was arrested by police during a drug buy-bust operation Oct. 5.

Police said the suspect, 36-year old Bernie Limpio was one of the three men who allegedly tailed and provided information to the gunmen as to the schedule of Nilo.

The priest was shot dead while preparing to officiate mass at a chapel in Zaragoza last June 10.

Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, director of the Cagayan Valley regional police, said Limpio was collared at around 6 p.m. on Friday in a buy-bust in Barangay Sta. Maria in Maddela, Quirino province.

“He was arrested after selling a sachet of shabu to a police poseur buyer,” said Espino.

During the conduct of the background check, Limpio turned out to be a subject of the arrest warrant for the killing of Father Nilo.

Police earlier said they are eyeing three motives behind the death of Father Nilo—a land dispute, reviving a rape case against a former seminarian and his criticism against a religious group.

But as the investigation goes on, police said the most probable motive was Father Nilo’s decision to help a victim of a rape case involving a former seminarian who turned out to be a relative of a businessman in Nueva Ecija.

Aside from Limpio, police also tagged seven other suspects in the killing.