4 found dead in their home

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Four women were found dead Tuesday afternoon at a house in St. Martin St. of Brgy. Poblacion in Dumalag, Capiz.

The bodies of victims Ramona Gafati, 70, a retired teacher, her helper, 37-year-old Wilma Catalan and two daughters, Zoe, and Catherine, 2, were discovered with knife wounds.

Police investigators however believed that Catalan, one of the fatalities, was the one who killed the three before taking her own life.

Superintendent Lazaro Sumague, of the Scene of the Crime Operations–Capiz said a knife was taken from Catalan’s hand when the bodies were found. Investigators also recovered a suicide note, which has resemblance to Catalan’s handwriting.

There were reports that Catalan suffered from a mental breakdown, which may have triggered her to kill her own daughters and her employer.

The theorizy was that Catalan first slit the neck of her two children and then Gafati. After the attack, she eventually slashed her own neck with the same knife.

According to Catalan’s father, Alejandro Fetalino, his daughter suffered from severe depression after her husband left her almost two years ago. Worse, the husband left after exhausting all the savings she had when she worked in Metro Manila.

Amid the shock and disbelief, Fetalino saw no reason why her daughter would kill her elderly employer and own children. It was not known if the family sought professional help to treat Catalan’s depression. - THE FREEMAN