Widow stabbed 30 times in Tarlac; 2 suspects arrested, one gets away
PANIQUI, Tarlac — Diligence and luck paid off for homicide investigators who solved in 12 hours the killing of a 76-year-old widow, who was stabbed 30 times inside her home in this town, over the weekend.
Superintendent Salvador Destura, Jr., local police chief, said Marcelina Villanueva, a widow who lived alone in her house in Barangay Poblacion Norte, was found dead around 10:30 a.m. last Saturday.
By 10 p.m. of the same day, suspects Rodel R. Cortez, 18, and Jayson B. Briones, both of Barangay Samput, here, were arrested and executed an extra-judicial confession for killing the old woman.
How did the police do it? “Upon receiving the report of Mrs. Yu’s killing, we immediately mobilized our assets (police informers) and focused our Intel-work on the personalities listed in our rogue gallery,” said Destura. “Around 8 that evening, we began receiving hints on the identity of the suspects,” he said.
It was learned that a police asset had overheard Cortez, Briones and a third suspect – Jayson Villanueva – arguing at a public place over the stabbing of the old woman.
“Around 8 that evening, we began receiving hints of the suspects. Until an informant came who claimed to have heard Briones, Cortez and one Jayson Villanueva heatedly arguing over the stabbing of the old woman,” said Destura.
“Apparently, the three (Cortez, Briones, and Villanueva) planned only to rob the house of the old lady with Villanueva was the look-out. But Mrs. Yu was roused from sleep and caught Cortez and Briones in her kitchen. That’s why they killed her,” he said.
Upon the arrest of the two, Briones’ confession led to the recovery of the bloodied shirts he and Cortez wore when they repeatedly stabbed Yu to death. Later, Briones signed a confession before Atty. Rolando Gragasin of the local Public Attorney’s Office, but Villanueva remains at large.
Senior Supt. Alex Sintin, Tarlac Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, commended Destura for immediately solving the brutal murder of Yu.