Local police chief Supt. Paul Gamido identified the fatality as Catherine Tobias de los Santos, 29, and the injured as her husband Jake Joseph de los Santos, 29.
He also identified the suspect as Rodolfo Dato Yupio, Jr., a trusted worker at the fish farm of the De Los Santoses for the past six years.
Interviewed by police probers at the Arayat district hospital, Jake identified Yupio as the culprit. He said that after midnight last Saturday, he saw his bloodied wife on the floor of their house’s kitchen with the suspect still holding a knife he used in the crime.
He said he fought Yupio, resulting in injuries in both of them, but that the suspect eventually fled. Yupio was still being hunted as of yesterday. The couple’s two children were in their rooms during the incident.
Jake told probers that last Saturday, Yupio asked to be given his salary for the end of April and that his wife had planned to give the salary to him the following day after receiving some P50,000 earnings from their fish farm. However, the stabbing happened even before the salary could be turned over to the suspect.
Jake sustained knife injuries in various parts of his body but was reported to be recuperating in the hospital. His wife, however, died from a fatal stab in the back.
Jake also said that last Saturday evening, Yupio was seen in a drinking spree with friends. Police retrieved photos of the suspect from his Facebook account, and they provided copies of it to hospitals and other police stations, as Yupio was expected to have himself treated for the wounds he sustained during the scuffle with Jake.
Relatives of the victims told police they were offering a P400,000 reward for the capture of Yupio.
