US law enforcers to join Anikow slay probe

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–United States law enforcement officials are working with Philippine authorities in investigating the killing of an American Marine last Saturday, the US Embassy in Manila has said.

US Embassy spokesperson Tina Malone on Wednesday said American law enforcers where collaborating with the Philippine National Police in its probe into the death of George Anikow, husband of a US diplomat, at the hands of four Volvo-riding Filipino males outside a posh neighborhood in Makati City early Saturday morning.

Malone, however, did not specify whether US authorities involved came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as earlier reported.

“The Philippine National Police is investigating this crime in accordance with Philippine Law.  US Embassy law enforcement officials are working in close cooperation with the local authorities and will continue to assist them as their investigation proceeds,” said Malone in a statement sent via text message.

The four suspects, all in their 20s, were arrested also on Saturday after they ganged up on Anikow and one of them stabbed the foreigner dead at a checkpoint outside the gate of Bel-Air Village near the upscale Rockwell Center.

Security footage obtained by police showed that the four suspects–Juan Alfonzo Abastillas, 24, Crispin de la Paz, 28, Osric Cabrera, 27, and Galicano Datu III, 22- chased Anikow outside the Bel-Air gate after the latter tapped their Volvo as they were entering the village.

Police also recovered three knives from the suspects, including one tactical knife believed to have been used in the killing.

Anikow was known to have served in the US Marines in Afghanistan until 2009 before his family moved to the Philippines.

The Embassy has yet to issue details on whether Anikow’s remains will be repatriated to the US.