HAGONOY, Bulacan— A husband and his wife were arrested by police here Monday in connection with the brutal murder of a retired school principal early Sunday morning. Supt. Rizalino Andaya, town police chief, identified the suspects as Florante Faustino and his wife Virginia, both residents of Sitio Wawa, Barangay Iba in this coastal town.
Andaya said the arrest came after witnesses disclosed seeing early Sunday morning the suspects and their tricycle in front of the house of the victim Lucia Chico-Manila, 68, a retired school principal. Andaya said the motive for the killing appeared to be a robbery.
The suspects were charged late Monday afternoon at the provincial prosecutor’s office and are currently detained at the Hagonoy municipal jail. PO1 Michael Gutierrez, investigator of the case, said at least four witnesses told investigators that they saw the suspects and their tricycle at the victim’s house around 5 a.m. Sunday.
He said that scene of the crime operatives (SOCO) are now processing fi nger prints lifted from the crime scene and hair strands pulled and left on the hand of the victim. Investigation showed that the victim was hit with a blunt object at the back of the head causing fracture and was also stabbed with a wooden object on the neck.
The victim’s body was found around 9:30 a.m. Sunday by relatives under a plywood board at the back of her house.
Relatives said that the victim was supposed to attend a wedding in Manila that day, but the person who went to pick her up did not see her and left around 6:30 a.m. Another relative went to the house around 9:30 a.m. and noticed that all doors in the house are open and appliances were in disarray.
