US marine biologist murder suspects held in Philippines
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of a US marine biologist at his home in the central Philippines, police said.
Three men broke into the home of 73-year-old Kent Carpenter in the coastal town of Sibulan in Negros Oriental province during a suspected robbery on Sunday.
Police officials said one of them allegedly shot the scientist in the head with a gun while he was sitting on the couch.
Another suspect forced Carpenter’s Filipino friend into a room and raped her.
Police spokesman Col. Allen Rae Co said the suspects took a laptop, an unspecified amount of cash and a backpack before fleeing.
The third man is also being sought, Co said at a press conference, adding that investigators are trying to determine why the suspects shot Carpenter.
A fourth suspect, who was standing watch outside the property, was arrested after surrendering to police and allegedly providing crucial details about the crime.
Co said that one of those arrested had previously been hired by Carpenter to do some carpentry work at his home, adding that the alleged gunman was among the arrested suspects.
“As of now, all indications are that the attack was not connected to (Carpenter’s) work,” Co told reporters. he said.
“This was indeed a planned robbery. So we are still confirming why they killed the American marine biologist.”
Many environmental and biodiversity centers and universities in the United States and the Philippines expressed shock at Carpenter’s violent death.
Carpenter testified on behalf of the Philippine government when it brought China to international arbitration over long-running disputes in the South China Sea.
His testimony as a biodiversity expert focused on the environmental impacts of China’s island-building and fishing activities in disputed waters, according to former Filipino officials with knowledge of his contributions.
In a decision in July 2016, the arbitration panel in The Hague invalidated China’s sweeping claims and noted the environmental damage caused by China’s construction of islands in disputed waters.
However, China questioned the panel’s jurisdiction, refused to participate in the arbitration, and dismissed the award as fraudulent.
Carpenter was a long-time lecturer and researcher at Silliman University in Negros Oriental.
He was also a professor of biological sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, since 1996.
His research, focusing on the Coral Triangle between the Philippines and the Indian and Pacific oceans, has shaped conservation efforts around the world, officials from the US university said.
They said he was on a long-term research mission in the Philippines and planned to retire in September.
“He has dedicated his career to expanding our understanding of the world’s bodies of water and protecting some of the most vulnerable ecosystems,” said Old Dominion president Brian Hemphill.
