The Philippine Online Chronicles

A man suspected of killing nine people in Angeles City, Pampanga, was arrested yesterday by police in San Fernando City in La Union.

The suspect, 28-year-old Mark Dizon, was brought out into the open with the help of his father, who cooperated with the police. Dizon attempted to resist arrest but was taken down by the arresting officials.

“[Dizon] tried to fight his way out of the situation by pulling his back-up gun, a .32 cal. pistol, but he was already overpowered by our policemen,” said Senior Superintendent Danilo Bautista of the Angeles City police.

Dizon is the primary suspect in the killing of three expatriates living in Angeles, along with their Filipina wives or partners, and household help. These include American Albert Mitchell, 70, a former commander of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 2485 here, who was killed along with his Filipina wife Janet Andrenada Mitchell, 53; and their household helpers Isabel Fajardo, 29; Marissa Prado, 29; and Yulberto Catli.

He was also pegged in the murders of Briton James Bolton Porter, 51, and his partner Melissa Madarang, 22, as well as Canadian Geoffrey Allan Bennun and his partner Abegail Helina, 20.

Dizon was personally known to all the victims. He supposedly befriended them to gain their trust in order to enter their homes. All victims were shot at point-black range, and their gadgets – including laptops, cellular phones and cameras - stolen.

Dizon was identified by witnesses through his Facebook page, as he was in the Friends list of the Mitchells’ daughter.

"He had an account on Faceboook and two witnesses positively identified him," said Bautista.

“I think our local expatriates can now heave a sigh of relief because the suspect has been (identified). We are grateful to them for choosing Angeles as their home and we want them to feel safe and be happy in our city,” said Angeles mayor Edgardo Pamintuan.

"Charges have already been filed against him. We have solid evidence to pin him down, including the items that he had stolen that were recovered," he added. "We are happy that this was solved with the help of the citizenry and technology because he was identified quickly.”

“I believe he knew what he was doing, because it was well-planned,” said Pamintuan. “It was good that we caught him because he would have struck again.”