Man who used son in con try stabbed dead by nephew

The man who earlier used his six-year-old son in a swindling scheme was stabbed dead by his own nephew in barangay Bagalnga, Compostela Friday night.

Joselito Taroja sustained a fatal stab wound in the left side of his chest and was declared dead on arrival at the municipal health center.

Taroja's 17-year-old nephew stabbed him with a 10-inch knife after Taroja hit his head for washing his feet using the water in a pail. The incident happened at about 8:00 p.m. last Friday in the mountain barangay Bagalnga, 17 kilometers away from the town proper.

The suspect, who immediately surrendered to the police after the incident, said that he does not regret what he did even if he spends the rest of his life languishing in jail because the victim is very cruel to him.

In an interview over dyLA yesterday, the suspect said Taroja once mauled him inside a billiard hall for no apparent reason and tried to stab him with a knife before.

Taroja was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation early this year after he escaped from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center with his six-year-old son who was diagnosed with a mild tetanus infection.

Taroja had his son admitted at the VSMMC and invented story that the child was maltreated by his wife, who allegedly eloped with another man. He claimed that his wife drove a four-inch nail into the boy's head and twisted his arm to get sympathy from well-meaning Cebuanos.

However, VSMMC officials discovered that Taroja was a swindler and has been in and out of the hospital several with different "stories" to solicit financial assistance from the public.

After his modus operandi was discovered Taroja escaped from the hospital with his son. He was later arrested by the NBI but charges were never filed against him.

Several people, including members of the media and foreigners, were deceived by Taroja and gave him money and assistance in kind. - Fred P. Languido