If not for a wounded yet still determined boy who found an escape route from his home, residents on a busy street in Valenzuela City would not have immediately known the evil that happened there.
A single mother, two of her children and her one-month-old niece were knifed dead early Wednesday by their houseboy of six years, who then killed himself after carrying out the predawn massacre, police said.
The mother’s second child managed to escape after being stabbed 20 times. Investigators found signs that the houseboy may have also sexually assaulted the mother.
Slain were Verna Castro, 36; her daughter Hanna, 15; son Samuel David, 6; and Verna’s month-old niece Phoebie de Leon who was then in the Castros’ care.
Joshua, 12, survived as the sole witness who pointed to Jeffrey Turla, 27, as the mad attacker. Joshua remained under intensive care at Valenzuela Medical Center after sustaining 20 stab wounds.
The gruesome crime required up to five investigators – Senior Police Officer 3 Richie Garcia, Senior Police Officer 1 Arnel Soriano, Police Officer 3 Michael Oxina, PO3 Winnie Ann Cale, and PO2 Ronald Tayag — who as of Wednesday were still trying to piece together exactly what happened based on Joshua’s accounts.
What drove Turla to go on a murderous rampage remained unknown, but police said the attacks began shortly past midnight Wednesday inside the Castros’ three-story home on St. Joseph Street at St. Jude Subdivision, Barangay Malinta.
A bleeding Joshua escaped through a second-floor window, jumped to the roof of a neighbor’s house, and from there shouted for help.
He was heard by Manuelito Chan, a resident who happened to be passing by the area. The man helped the boy come down from the roof, rushed him to Valenzuela Medical Center, and alerted local authorities.
Police later found Verna’s body on the first floor, bearing multiple stab wounds in the body. She died seven hours later in the hospital.
The bloodied bodies of the suspect Turla and that of the children Hanna, Samuel David and the infant De Leon were all found on the second floor. The children bore stab wounds in their heads, necks and bodies.
Turla also bore what appeared to be self-inflicted stab wounds in the body.
Also found near their bodies were a bloodied Japanese sword, a kitchen knife, and a pair of scissors.
“Rescuers found Verna alone naked on the first floor. Turla was found with his short pants’ zipper open and his genitals exposed,” Valenzuela police investigation section head Chief Inspector Noel Ramirez told the Inquirer in an interview.
Verna Castro was a businesswoman selling and distributing balut eggs from her home, which is located near Malinta public market, according to investigators.
Ramirez said Joshua positively identified Turla as his family’s killer.
“(Turla) has been with them for six years, so the Castros were already treating him like one of their own. We have not received any information that there was a quarrel between Turla and any of the family members,” the officer added.
Police said Verna had been separated from her husband since 2008.