Victim Loretta Caguitla, a resident of 14th Avenue, Barangay Soccoro, Cubao, sustained strangulation marks on her neck and was pronounced dead on arrival by attending physicians at the Quirino Medical Center.
Her husband Rogelio, of Buso-buso, Antipolo City, was later found dead by relatives inside his sister’s house in West Kamias, Barangay Sta. Cruz with a nylon cord tied around his neck.
Initial investigation showed that Caguitla’s killing took place at about 11:15 pm along 15th Avenue, Murphy Street, in Cubao. The couple, who had been separated for several months now, accidentally crossed paths in the area.
Rogelio reportedly had been long wanting to reconcile with his wife and persuaded her to have a talk with him at the house of her sister along 19th Avenue.
He later opened the topic of a possible reconciliation, but Caguitla apparently had no interest in it. A heated argument ensued in which the suspect took an electrical cord and strangled Caguitla with it.
As the victim collapsed on the ground, the suspect immediately fled the scene and went straight to his sister’s house in Barangay Sta. Cruz. Loretta was rushed to the hospital where she expired moments later.
Responding members of the Central Police District arrived at the scene for the suspect’s arrest, but they found out that Rogelio had already taken his own life by hanging himself with a cord from the ceiling of his sister’s bedroom. – Mathew Estabillo