Man kills family before taking his life; personal problems eyed

MANILA, Philippines — Probers were looking at financial and personal problems that might have led a 47-year-old man to shoot dead his wife and two children before he killed himself on Monday.

The bodies of Manolo Benigno de Leon, wife Dianne Cristel, their 14-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son were found around 3 p.m. by the police in their house at Greenheights Village in Parañaque City. They had all been shot once in the head.

The mother was in the family’s sport utility vehicle parked in their garage. Their teenage daughter was in the living room while their son was in the master bedroom.

De Leon’s body was found near the door of the master bedroom.

Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered a .45-caliber pistol with six bullets beside him and four shells inside the house.

Col. Rogelio Rosales, Parañaque police chief, said they had yet to get statements from the victims’ kin who asked for privacy.

But based on their initial investigation, probers were eyeing supposed “mental and emotional changes” in De Leon who lost his job due to health problems last year. Since then, his wife had been the breadwinner, they said.