MOSES Pangelinan Cabrera, 78, was arrested for second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and battery, and assault with a dangerous weapon, Assistant Chief of Police Simon Manacop said.
Police believe that Cabrea killed his brother, 71-year-old Pedro Pangelinan Cabrera, and then dumped the victim’s body south of the Garapan Fishing Base on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Moses Cabrera was placed under arrest after Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio issued a warrant on Sunday, Aug. 4. He was taken into custody “without incident” from his home in San Jose, said Manacop, the Department of Public Safety’s acting public information officer.
Moses Cabrera was one of the two “persons of interest” questioned by police. The other person, who was unnamed, was not arrested.
Moses Cabrera is currently being detained at the Department of Corrections on $250,000 cash bail.
Press conference
On Friday, Aug. 2, DPS Commissioner Anthony Macaranas told reporters that Pedro Cabrera, a former inmate, was the deceased individual found south of the Garapan Fishing Base dock on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Macaranas said DPS had officially instigated a homicide investigation, and two persons of interest are in DPS custody.
He said the crime scene is in San Jose, behind a church, and that Pedro Cabrera’s body was dumped at the fishing base. The body was discovered late Thursday afternoon by a resident who phoned 911, saying that a man was “unusually” lying on the rocks at the Garapan Fishing Base. Police arrived at the scene at around 5:07 p.m.
Macaranas said Pedro Cabrera was found with “severe trauma to the face,” and his injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma. He clarified that the body was not found decomposing as previously reported.
He said tattoos led to Pedro Cabrera’s positive identification. At around 11 p.m. Thursday evening, Macaranas said police were able to discover what they believed was the crime scene in San Jose. There, they found two persons of interest, who gave “inconsistent” statements to the police and were taken into police custody.
“We’re working to piece all the evidence together from witnesses to surveillance footage and others that will lead us to corroborate this case,” Macaranas said.
He asked anyone who was in the Garapan Fishing Base area between 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday to provide information about any unusual activity on the day Pedro Cabrera’s body was found.
The DPS-Criminal Investigation Bureau can be reached at (670) 664-9042. If you wish to remain anonymous, call the Crime Stoppers hotline at (670) 234-7272.
According to news files, Pedro Pangelinan Cabrera was convicted for the second-degree murder of a police officer in 1984; in 2000, while on parole, he was charged with kidnapping, rape of a minor and assault with a dangerous weapon.
