Muntinlupa cops catch, charge suspect in crime of passion

MANILA, Philippines — The suspect in the killing of a 22-year-old woman whose body was found inside a sack at a storage room in Muntinlupa City has been arrested and charged.

Alexander Morpuz Dimaunahan Jr. did not resist when policemen arrested him in Laguna province on Sunday, a day after the body of Sheva Adare Mae Prementil was discovered.

The 23-year-old suspect confessed to the crime and was charged with murder in the Muntinlupa City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.

Prementil’s body was found in the storage room where the suspect lived at Purok 2, Barangay Cupang in Muntinlupa City on Saturday.

The victim, who resided nearby, had sustained multiple stab wounds and a head injury. There was a slash wound on her abdomen while one of her fingers had been cut off, said Senior Master Sgt. Sandro Quijote of the investigation section.

Bloody evidence

Dimaunahan became the primary suspect in her death after the victim’s roommate saw him washing the bloody bed sheet of Prementil. There were also scratch marks on his neck.

The police earlier tagged the killing of the Bukidnon native as a crime of passion. The suspect was reportedly courting the victim but she had turned him down.

When Prementil’s body was found, her chest was exposed but Dimaunahan denied raping her.

Police Senior Master Marlou Jacob told the Inquirer that Dimaunahan’s father went to the Muntinlupa Police Community Precinct 4 on Sunday to inform them that his son had fled to Liliw, Laguna.

“The father, who was a member of the barangay police in Cupang, went with authorities to Liliw but on the way [there], they saw the suspect walking at Barangay Wawa in San Pablo. The suspect did not resist arrest; he looked like he was out of his mind,” Jacob said.

The suspect was reportedly drunk when he committed the crime although Jacob said they had also tested him for drugs and were still waiting for the results.

Previous cases

A background check showed that Dimaunahan was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Liliw in August 2016. He also has a pending warrant of arrest for frustrated homicide issued by Judge Mary Jean Cajadad of the Santa Cruz, Laguna Regional Trial Court Branch 27.

Prementil’s cousin, Chonalyn Landasan, told the Inquirer they did not know the suspect had a criminal record.

“Her [victim] friends told me that the suspect liked my cousin but [she turned him] down because [she] had a boyfriend,” Landasan said.