Jealousy eyed in woman trader’s slay

Jealousy is being eyed as the motive in the killing of a 44-year-old woman in an ambush in Quezon City on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, head of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said that the boyfriend of Michelle Basa told probers that the killing might have been ordered by his ex-wife. “It could be a crime of passion. We are looking into [this] although there could be other motives,” Marcelo told the Inquirer.

Marcelo explained that his assessment was based on the statement given by the man who was with Basa when she was shot by motorcycle-riding men at around 1 p.m. on Atherton Street in Fairview, Quezon City, on Saturday.

Lester Gatchalian, 36, admitted to the police that he and the victim were lovers. “According to [him], his former wife could be the one behind the ambush due to jealousy,” Marcelo said.

Gatchalian said that he and his wife were already separated while the victim was married to a foreigner. Case officer Senior Police Officer 2 Antonio Galauran said the victim was taken to a hospital where she was declared dead on arrival due to multiple gunshot wounds.—Nancy C. Carvajal