A man who killed and robbed his neighbor more than 25 years ago was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Eduardo Celosia was found guilty of robbery with homicide by Regional Trial Court Judge Geraldine Faith Econg.
Celosia has been in hiding for 23 years before he was arrested in 2006 for killing his neighbor, Ernesto Apa, on July 30, 1983 along Magallanes Street, Cebu City.
The victim parked his delivery truck together with his truckboy, Manuel Gian, along Magallanes Street when Celosia approached him. Without any provocation, Celosia hit the victim with an iron bar in the head. Before fleeing, Celosia took the victim’s wallet.
Celosia denied killing the victim, claiming that he only learned about his death four days later. Celosia, however, could not recall his whereabouts on the day Apa was killed.
Despite Celosia’s denial, the court was convinced that he is guilty of the crime because of the testimony of Gian, the eyewitness. Econg, in her six-page decision, said that although the accused denied killing Apa, he did not deny taking the victim’s wallet.
The court, however, did not award actual damages to the heirs of the victim because the prosecution failed to present the actual expenses incurred by the family for the hospitalization and the burial of the victim. – Fred P. Languido/LPM