Davao native nabbed for Japanese wife’s slay

They were supposed to migrate to Japan next month.

A  late-night drinking binge canceled the couple’s  plans permanently.

The 32-year-old Japanese wife was stabbed dead  allegedly by her Filipino husband after she berated him for coming home drunk in the wee hours of Monday morning,  police said.

Kotoka Kajii Denila, a Tokyo native and mother of a 9-month-old girl, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Lapu-Lapu City District Hospital.

Police arrested Dexter Louie Denila, 27, a native of Tagum, Davao del Norte, a few hours later.

The lone  witness to the crime was the couple’s 18-year-old  houseboy Jupel Baldoseno, who said the couple often fought over the man’s drinking binges.

He said Dexter went home at 2:45 a.m. and knocked on the door several times.  Baldoseno, who slept at the ground floor, said Kotoka told him not to open the door. The wife went downstairs and opened the door, scolding Dexter for coming home late.

Kotoka went upstairs to the bedroom while Dexter went to the kitchen, got a knife and followed her.

The houseboy said  he heard the woman shouting for help. When he   went upstairs, he  saw Dexter grabbing Kotoka’s hair and stabbing  her several times.

The housebody said he rushed out for help. When he went back to the house, he said he saw   Dexter leave with the knife in his possession.

The houseboy said  he picked up the couple’s 9-month-old infant girl who cried after she fell from the bed.

Before the killing, Dexter was seen with friends drinking at a basketball court a few blocks from their house in Dominique Subdivision, sitio Sudtongan, barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

PO2 Winston Ybanez of the Lapu-Lapu police said they arrested Dexter past 7 a.m.  after he was seen roaming outside the subdivision.

He was incoherent and couldn’t answer questions properly.   He said he was innocent of the crime and just saw his wife on the floor with several stab wounds.  He denied he was using drugs.

The couple’s baby girl will be turned over to social workers.

The Japanese consul was in the police station Monday morning as part of efforts to contact the next of kin.

The couple  got married last April 2011 and arrived in Cebu last year. Dexter was jobless while Kotoka worked as a dive instructor.

They met in Japan where Dexter  worked in a factory three years ago.

Dexter said they were supposed to migrate to Japan next month.

Police said parricide charges will be filed against him today. /Jhunnex Napallacan and Norman V. Mendoza, Correspondents