The victim, Efren Ballesteros, had been working for Global Security Agency for the past three years.
Department of Public Safety’s acting spokesman PO2 Jason T. Tarkong said in an interview that DPS Central received a call from the school about a dead person at 6:13 a.m. yesterday.
“Investigators who responded to the scene discovered Ballesteros’ bloodied body lying along the covered walkway right in front of the school building,” Tarkong said.
The victim had no pulse when police officers arrived.
According to Tarkong, the victim suffered several body injuries and blunt trauma, which could have caused his death.
Tarkong said investigators are looking at two possibly related crimes — homicide and burglary.
He said some of the classrooms on the second floor of a school building was burglarized although they had yet to check what items were lost.
“The two crimes could be related but investigation is still going on,” Tarkong said.
Investigators scrutinized the crime scene and the school’s perimeter fence for possible points of entry or traces that the perpetrators could have left behind.
Tarkong said classes at MHS will resume once investigators “clear” the area.
“We don’t want anybody to mess up with the investigation and destroy any evidence. This means classes at the school will be suspended until further notice,” he said.
Tarkong said the incident could have happened at dawn before the victim could finish his shift.
He said he had been with DPS for the past 17 years but this was the first time that an incident of this kind happened at MHS.
Lumi Bermudes, vice principal for administration and student services, said the victim was assigned to guard the school premises from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
He would usually turned the lights off at 5:45 a.m. and unlock the gate.
“When a school staffer arrived, he was surprised because the gates were still locked and the lights were on, which was kind of unusual. When he came in, he saw the victim’s body,” Bermudez said.
She added that they barred the students from entering the school premises.
“We don’t want the students to enter the crime scene because we don’t want to jeopardize the investigation,” she said.
Their priority now, she added, is to ensure that their 1,300 students can return to their classes as soon as possible.
She said they will do their best to bring things back to normal as soon as possible.
Bermudez said the victim was one of the school’s new guards.
“I’ve seen him for about three to four months. He was a nice person, dedicated to his job and very positive,” she said.
“This is a very shocking incident for all of us, and we want the perpetrators to be caught as soon as possible,” she said.
Adelaida Abella, the victim’s wife, said she and her husband were supposed to go to church at 10 a.m. to have their five-month-old son’s christening scheduled.
She said when he didn’t show up, she called her husband’s employer and that’s when she learned what happened.
Abella said as of yesterday morning, her other son, a 12-year-old studying at Hopwood, was not yet aware that his father was dead.
She and her husband had been staying on Saipan since 1992, and she didn’t expect “something as tragic as this will happen to us.”
According to Frank Elecho, another Global Security Agency guard, the victim was a quiet man and didn’t quarrel with anyone.
“I’m still shocked this happened,” he said.
GSA supervisor Danny Punzalan said that they are already making arrangements with the insurance company to process the death benefits of the victim.
Police are urging members of the public with any information about this crime to call DPS at 664-9002 or the Crime Stoppers at 234-7272.
