Internet shop owner robbed then killed

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – While Iloilo was subdued by heavy rains of typhoon Pedring, a 38-year-old woman was robbed and killed in the otherwise safe confines of her house, which doubles as Internet shop, at Hacienda Fe Subdivision in Brgy. Sambag of Zarraga town.

The victim, Bermilla Cartagena, was believed to have been dead for around three hours when found by her 11-year-old daughter who came home from school for lunch at home. Cartagena’s body was bathed in a pool of blood and was already feasted by ants. Initial investigation showed the victim was struck with a hard object on her head before she was stabbed nine times.

The victim’s grade school daughter arrived home at around 11:30 a.m. of Tuesday, but could not open the door with her knocks unanswered. She then decided to force open the door and then saw her mother sprawling on the door at their computer station with blood all over her.

Cartagena, a former school teacher, was alone to tend their computer shop business right at their own house. Her husband has been teaching in Pavia town, Iloilo, her eldest child is studying in a maritime school in Iloilo City and her second child a high school student.

Earlier, neighbors claimed that a barangay official told the Cartagena family to operate their Internet shop business only until 10 p.m., but no one knew why it was operating on a 24-hour basis.

Police have already identified the suspect as a certain Armand Sisia, who was the one allegedly playing computer games from the night before until Cartagena’s kids left for school in the morning.

At around 8:30 a.m., neighbors claimed to have heard a loud thud and a sound of someone crying, but they could not figure out what it was all about due to the sound of the downpour. Some even thought that Cartagena was just admonishing her children.

Investigators surmised that it could be around that time when Sisia attacked Cartagena. Members of the Scene-of-the-Crime Operations (SOCO) said the Internet shop was in disarray, as the suspect could have ransacked the drawers to scour for money. After the incident, the 23-year-old Sisia could not be found and so was his 37-year-old wife and their newborn child. The couple was living in a rented room in Brgy. Gines, Zarraga.

A tricycle driver said that Sisia, together with his wife and child, paid him P200 for them to be brought to Dumangas wharf, where vessels sail for Negros Occidental. It was gathered that the suspect was a native of Cauayan town in Negros Occidental.

Aside from money, police said some household things also went missing in the Cartagena household. As such, robbery was seen to be the motive of the incident, and that the suspect might be in dire need of money to support his wife and newborn child. - THE FREEMAN