Man choked daughter, bludgeoned son before committing suicide

The man who killed his two teenage children before he committed suicide apparently strangled his daughter and then struck his son in the head with a bottle before he drank poison.

These were the initial findings of Scene of the Crime Operatives who examined the victims’ bodies, the Manila Police District homicide section chief said Monday.

While the cause of their death may already be known, the police have yet to establish the father’s motive for killing his children and then taking his life.

Citing the autopsy report submitted by Dr. Romeo Salen, Senior Insp. Ismael de la Cruz said that Jacinto de Guzman, 38, died from ingesting silver cleaning solution.

His daughter, 17-year-old Jennifer, was initially believed to have been forced by her father to drink the same toxic chemical after probers found froth in her mouth. De la Cruz, however, said that she was choked to death and that her saliva had foamed while she was being strangled.

On the other hand, her 18-year-old brother Jeramel, died of a skull fracture. De la Cruz said the police suspected that his father had hit him in the head with the huge soda bottle, which contained the silver nitrate.

Their bodies were found in their house on L. Rivera Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila, on Sunday morning by De Guzman’s wife, Editha, who had just come back from selling chicken in the market.

“We’re still investigating how a father could have killed his children,” said De la Cruz, who refused to speculate. “And our only available witness is a child.”

James Benetyr Cuasay, Editha’s 9-year-old nephew, told the police that he saw De Guzman take the bottle of silver cleaning solution to his children’s room. He then heard a commotion but he said he did not see what happened.

De la Cruz said the police could not get an answer from Editha who remained hysterical. “We tried to ask her questions but she kept on crying. She would get hysterical and call her husband names,” he added.