Police said the suspect for raping and killing an 8-year-old girl in Candelaria, Quezon, was found dead inside his jail cell on Wednesday.
Ricardo Burce, 55, has no pulse and no longer breathing when his fellow inmate tried to wake him up this morning. Candelaria police rushed him to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
No further details about the suspect’s death were released as of this writing.
Burce died the day after President Rodrigo Duterte reportedly ordered police to hunt down and neutralize an alleged “serial rapist” of children in Quezon.
“Hanapin nila kung sinuman ‘yan at huwag na nila buhayin (Find that person and don’t let that person live),” Duterte was quoted as saying in a Manila Bulletin report.
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Suspect for raping, killing child in Quezon found dead in jail cell
An 8-year-old girl was found dead in the town of Candelaria, Quezon, on Monday afternoon, according to police.
Police arrested the suspect, Ricardo Burce, 54-year-old. He admitted to killing and raping the child because he was intoxicated, according to Lt. Col. Jezreel Calderon, Candelaria Police Chief.
Burce directed authorities to find the victim’s body. He said he saw three men abduct the victim and took her to a white van.
The suspect later admitted that he was the perpetrator of the crime.
Burset first strangled the victim to death before raping her. The suspect said he was drunk and thought the child was a full-grown woman.
The victim disappeared Sunday afternoon and was last seen playing with other children near their home, Calderon said.