DOJ: Initial report shows ex-cop Nuezca died of heart attack

Dismissed Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, who killed two neighbors in Tarlac in December 2020, may have died of cardiac arrest, according to the Department of Justice.

“The preliminary report of the [National Bureau of Investigation] indicates that Nuezca died of cardiac arrest,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

Nuezca died at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital on December 1, after he was allegedly “bought unconscious” by his fellow inmates. 

Bureau of Corrections spokesman Gabriel Chaclag said an investigation is going to determine if there was foul play involved.

Meanwhile, Guevarra said a laboratory and histopathological exam will determine the specific cause of Nuezca's death.

The former cop was laid to rest in Pangasinan over the weekend.

His death came after a Tarlac Court found him guilty of murdering his two neighbors, Sonia and Frank Anthony Gregorio, after they had a heated argument over a "boga" explosion and right of way last December 2020.

He was sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years in prison for each count of murder and was ordered to pay damages worth P952,560. —LBG, GMA news