Cops off to Cagayan to arrest murder suspect

MANILA, Philippines - A team of policemen has fanned out to northern Luzon provinces for the possible arrest of the suspect in the murder of his live-in partner on Christmas day in Sampaloc, Manila.

The suspect, Danilo Mendoza, 37, is reportedly wanted for another murder in the past and used to seek sanctuary in his home province in Tuao, Cagayan, according to Inspector Armando Macaraeg, chief of the homicide section of the Manila Police District. “The suspect hides in the province for a long time after committing the crime, then returns to Manila when he senses that authorities are no longer hunting him. This time, my men are out to get him wherever he is,” Macaraeg told The STAR.

However, Macaraeg directed his cops to be more cautious in the hunt since the suspect reportedly has an identical twin.

Mendoza is the prime suspect in the killing of his live-in partner Lilibeth Quizon, 46, inside their room in Samplaoc, Manila.

Witnesses said the couple were overheard quarrelling, then followed by silence. Mendoza was later seen coming down from the stairways and when asked, he answered that he slapped the victim to quell her down.

Witnesses proceeded at the third-floor room of the couple where they discovered the bloodied body of Quizon leaning on the sofa. The victim was rushed at the UST Hospital where she died while being treated for multiple stab wounds.

Police recovered a blood-stained knife at the crime scene. Police also failed to find the suspect in the houses of his known relatives in Manila.