A probe has been ordered on claims that policemen allegedly destroyed evidence vital to the investigation into the killing of a 39-year-old woman, in front of her two minor daughters, in Brgy. Paticui, Hinigaran, Negros Occidental.

Senior Supt. Allan Guisihan, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, yesterday said he will request the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to take over the investigation, because of the pending allegations against the Hinigaran police.

Guisihan said he has requested the family of victim Maria Theresa Vinco to file a formal complaint against the Hinigaran police, so he can initiate action on their allegations.

Vinco, the wife of an overseas worker, was stabbed dead at about 2 a.m. Monday by an unidentified person in front of her two daughters, aged two and four at their home.

The victim succumbed to nine stab wounds, about five of which were fatal, police records show.

Guisihan said police investigators are mandated to preserve and properly document the crime scene, in preparation for the investigations of the SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operations) probers.

However, he was told that the crime scene had already been cleaned up, before the SOCO investigators arrived, Guisihan said.

If there is a violation, those responsible will be administratively sanctioned, he added.

They could be held liable either for incompetence, neglect of duty, or grave misconduct, Guisihan said.* GPB

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