Slain moneylender’s spouse faces parricide raps

The Manila police filed parricide charges yesterday against the husband of a 43-year-old moneylender in Sta. Ana, Manila after he admitted repeatedly stabbing his wife to death out of jealousy.

Antonio Dacanay, 49, a factory worker, told police that the stigma of being identified as a cuckolded husband drove him to stab his wife Norma, with whom he has a 17-year-old son.

Dacanay also tried to mislead investigators by fixing the crime scene and trying to make it appear that an intruder had forcefully entered their house on Orchids street in Sta. Ana and attacked his wife.

The body of Norma, an OYSTER (Out-of-School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery) cleanliness and beautification personnel assigned in Makati City, was discovered by her son Quinn Anthony in the comfort room. Police said her body bore at least 15 puncture wounds.

Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling Jr., a foreign-trained investigator who heads the homicide section of the Manila Police District, suspected that the killer is known to the family since neighbors did not hear Norma’s two pet dogs bark.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut directed his men to invite Norma’s husband and son for investigation. It was during the tactical interrogation that Dacanay confessed to the killing. Police noted half-healed scratches on his wrist, arm and finger.

Dacanay said he was outraged when his wife admitted that she had affair with an OYSTER supervisor during a confrontation. He said he blacked out and reached for a screwdriver and repeatedly stabbed his wife.

After the stabbing, Dacanay said he knocked down all the furniture to make it appear that there was a struggle. He also bought three sticks of cigarettes, lighted one and left it, including the two unlighted ones near an ashtray to exclude him as suspect since he does not smoke. He also prepared two glasses of orange juice to make it appear that his wife had a visitor before she was killed.

After the killing, he left the house and threw the screwdriver into the Pasig River, he told investigators. Yanquiling also recovered part of the missing P100,000 and Norma’s jewelry from her husband’s locker at his place of work.

The victim, who was engaged in a lending business, reportedly had recently acquired more than P100,000 loan from an insurance policy of her husband.