MANILA, Philippines – The US embassy in the Philippines on Monday, June 18, hailed the arrests of two convicts in the high-profile 2012 murder of US Marine George Anikow, the husband of a former US embassy employee. 

“The US embassy in the Philippines welcomes the arrests of Galicano Datu III on June 12 in Mandaluyong City and Crispin dela Paz on June 14 in Marikina City by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the violent death of George Anikow on November 24, 2012, bringing some measure of justice to this senseless crime,” the US embassy said in a statement.

“We appreciate the cooperation of Philippine law enforcement authorities in locating and apprehending the perpetrators,” the embassy added.

NBI Director Dante Gierran said Datu and Dela Paz “were charged and convicted for brutally killing US Marine Major George Anikow in Bel-Air subdivision near Rockwell Center, Makati City, on November 24, 2012.”

The NBI said that upon learning an arrest warrant was issued against him on April 18, Datu “went into hiding in a prominent condominium in Mandaluyong City” in the guise of having his live-in partner as lessee or tenant. 

Dela Paz, on the other hand, “was arrested after a car chase from San Pedro, Laguna, to Marikina City, where he was halted.”

Anikow was stabbed to death in a brawl that happened outside the gate of Bel-Air, an upscale Makati village.

He left behind 3 children, his sister Mary Anikow said in 2013. – Rappler.com