The suspect behind the rape and killing of an 8-year-old girl was found dead in his jail cell today in Candelaria town in Quezon province.
Suspect Ricardo Burce, 55, was found unconscious by his cellmate when the latter tried to wake him up inside their shared cell in the village of Poblacion, according to GMA News. Upon noticing that Burce was unresponsive, his cellmate informed the guard on duty and Burce was brought to the Candelaria District Hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.
Candelaria police have yet to disclose the official cause of Burce’s death, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports.
Burce was arrested last week after he allegedly confessed to raping and strangling a young girl while he was drunk, according to ABS-CBN News. The girl’s body was later found in a grassy area in the village of Masin Sur.
His death comes after President Rodrigo Duterte said in an interview early this week that an alleged serial rapist was preying on young girls in Quezon province.
“There are things I want to bring attention to the Filipino people, especially about children who are raped. It’s non-stop. In Quezon, there’s somebody there who is a serial rapist. Yesterday someone was raped and killed,” the president said in English and Filipino. “They should look for him and kill him.”
It remained unclear, however, whether the two cases are related.
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