Man shoots wife dead

A man shot dead his wife after they argued inside their house in barangay Casili, Mandaue City.

The suspect Venerando Bihag Jr., 39, tried to cover up by telling police that his wife committed suicide.

But police found inconsistencies in his testimony. It was upon further questioning that Bihag admitted shooting Ginaly Bihag while they were arguing.

Venerando told police that his wife confronted him for not wearing their wedding ring.

The suspect said he explained to his wife that he took off the ring to protect it from being damaged as he had to haul hollow blocks for the construction of their store.

The suspect said another cause of their fight was when the woman found text messages from a female friend in his cell phone.

Venerando said he and his wife argued around 2 a.m. yesterday. The man said his wife ran to their room and took his .45 pistol.

The husband said he lost his cool, grabbed the pistol and shot his wife in the neck.

Ginalyn was rushed to the North General Hospital where she later died.

It was past 10 a.m. that the shooting was reported to Casili barangay captain Mario Bihag.

Bihag, a relative of the couple, advised the family to report the incident to the police.

At the office of the Intelligence and Detection Management Branch (IDMB) of the Mandaue City Police Office, the husband said his wife committed suicide.

Insp. Ramil Morpos, deputy chief of IDMB, said because of some inconsistencies, the suspect was placed under further interrogation.

Morpos said Venerando changed his tune and admitted shooting the woman but said it was accidental.

The man again changed his testimony where he finally admitted in front of the victim’s mother that he shot the victim while they were arguing.

The suspect surrendered an unlicensed .45 pistol to the police.

The suspect was detained at the Canduman police precinct pending the filing of a parricide charge against him, said police./CORRESPONDENT NORMAN V. MENDOZA