Senior Superintendent Leo Garra, city police chief, identified the victims as Andrew Luis Villa, 41, who is into the lease, sale and distribution of heavy equipment, his second wife Joy Cam, 19, Villa’s 12-year-old daughter by his first wife, Yvanna Faye, and helper Fely Omblero, all of 111 Duhat Avenue corner 4th street in Barangay 88, Caloocan City.
The victims, who were found dead in various areas of the house at around noon yesterday, succumbed to several stab wounds in different parts of the body.
Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri offered a P50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects.
The mayor has ordered a thorough investigation of the case so that justice may be served.
Garra said they have identified the main suspect, Juanito Espinosa, alias "Tyson," the Villa’s houseboy of one year and reportedly a native of Zamboanga.
Garra said he has sent his men after the suspect in his last known address in Dagat-Dagatan in Caloocan City, but was told he was no longer there.
His wife was also gone, and both are likely already in hiding, police said.
"Pero hindi pa sila makakadiretso sa Zamboanga kaya natuloy ang manhunt. Hindi na ito mahirap kasi tukoy na ang suspek," Gara said, adding that it is only a matter of time before the case is solved with the suspect’s arrest.
Investigators also believe they have more than one suspect as the number of victims and the manner they died indicate the killing could not have been perpetrated by one person alone.
Neighbors told investigators that at around 6:30 p.m. last Tuesday, at the height of a heavy downpour, they heard the dogs barking and other noises inside the house, including a woman shouting in a heated quarrel.
Shortly after midnight yesterday, they still heard the television.
Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton, Station Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (SIDMB) chief, said that robbery could be the principal motive for the killings.
The police official said the master’s bedroom was in disarray, with the cabinets, Villa’s clutch bag and wallet ransacked.
Even the little girl’s piggy banks were not spared.
Cuaton said there were no signs of forcibly entry.
Investigation conducted by Police Community Precinct 3 operatives, led by Senior Inspector Erwin Emelo, resulted in the discovery of the bodies.
The young girl’s body was found in the sala while the couple was discovered in the kitchen. The elderly helper was found in the laundry room just outside the kitchen.
Their bodies bore multiple stab wounds in the neck at chest, police said.
In the light of theincident, Garra advised the public to be extra cautious about the house help they hire.
"Dapat tingnan nilang mabuti ang personal background. We gathered from Villa’s secretary that Espinosa had no record with them, not even a picture. Ostensibly, there was a lapse in the hiring," the lawyer-officer said.