Senior Supt. Milko Lirazan, Negros Occidental police director, yesterday said they have made a breakthrough in their investigation into the identities of the suspects in the killing of a businesswoman and the wounding of her two children in La Castellana on Sept. 28.

Lirazan, however, withheld the identities of the three suspects, who, he said, are laborers of the victims.

Delia Jimenez Colmenares, 54, died on the spot when she was shot at around 3 p.m. Saturday by the suspects, who also robbed her and her two children of cash and jewelry at their residence in Sitio Mananawin, Brgy. Masulog, La Castellana. She is the wife of a relative of Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares.

Delia's son and daughter, Antonio Jose and Ma. Famela, were also shot but survived, Lirazan said.

Task Force Delia was formed by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office for the filing of charges against the suspects, with Supt. Samuel Mina designated as the task force chief.

Lirazan said the burning of a sugarcane field in the place before the shooting, may have been a diversionary tactic of the suspects to distract the attention of the neighbors of the victims.

Several empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol were recovered at the crime scene by the La Castellana policemen.

Robbery was established as the motive for the shooting, Lirazan said.*GPB

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