By HENRY EMPEÑO | SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Two unidentified females emerged as persons of interest in the slaying of a former newspaper publisher in a housing area here last Sunday.

A spot report from the Investigation Division of the Law Enforcement Department of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA-LED) said the two females are believed to be the companions of victim Sonny Almazan on Sunday night before he was found dead on Monday morning.

Almazan’s driver Renato Barbadillo also told investigators that the two females were the same persons whom Almazan asked him to fetch from Kalaklan Gate at about 9:00 pm that same night.

Almazan was the publisher of the defunct Zambales Today’s News, which circulated briefly in the province. Almazan also ran for mayor of San Narciso in 2013 but lost.

The 69-year old Almazan, said to be a US Navy retiree, was found dead Monday morning inside his quarters at Binictican Heights in this free port.

He was apparently beaten to death with a golf club that was found bloodstained inside his bedroom. Investigators, however, found no signs of forcible entry at the crime scene.

According to initial investigation by the SBMA-LED, Almazan and Barbadillo went to the Breadtime bakery near the Ayala Mall in the Subic Freeport between 7:00 and 8:00 pm last Sunday. There, Almazan instructed his driver to fetch two female friends at Kalaklan Gate.

Barbadillo proceeded to the gate aboard Almazan’s Toyota Fortuner SUV and waited for Almazan’s friends at the parking lot.

Upon arrival at Breadtime with the two females, Barbadillo was reportedly advised by Almazan to leave him with the women.

The following day, Barbadillo reported for work at Almazan’s quarters in Binictican and after failing to get some response after pressing the doorbell three times, decided to enter the house through the front door that he found unlocked.

Once inside, Barbadillo reportedly observed bloodstains on the floor leading to Almazan’s bedroom. When he saw more bloodstains on the floor and walls inside the bedroom, he reportedly sought the help of neighbors to call the SBMA Police for assistance.

Investigators who arrived at the crime scene found Almazan slumped at a sitting position on the floor, naked waist down and with blood on his head and body, while an upturned computer table partially pinned his body.

Police said the victim sustained head injuries caused by a blunt instrument. They also noticed bloody footprints on the bedroom floor, a golf club and a metal cane with bloodstains, and broken liquor bottles.

Almazan’s cellular phone and a sling bag believed to contain cash were reportedly missing.

During investigation, Barbadillo confirmed that the two females caught on CCTV footages at Kalaklan Gate at about 9:25 pm were the same persons that he had fetched at the instruction of the victim.

He further told the police that one of the females who visited Almazan, the one with a tattoo on her right thigh, had been in the company of his employer for about three or four times previously.

Meanwhile, CCTV footages also revealed that Almazan’s Toyota vehicle entered Binictican housing at 9:47 pm. This tallied with the account of a witness that Almazan arrived in his quarters with two female companions at 10:00 pm that Sunday night.

The SBMA-LED said the investigation of Almazan’s death has been assumed by the Philippine National Police office in Morong, Bataan, which has territorial jurisdiction over the Binictican area.