Woman stabbed 27 times

A 25-year-old laundry woman was believed to have been raped before she was stabbed to death by a carpenter in barangay Quiot, Cebu City Wednesday morning.

Jeysila Muñoz, 25, a native of Getafe town, Bohol, was found slumped in an alley in sitio Viewhills with at least 27 stab wounds.

The suspect, Benedicto Logreno, 48, was arrested around noon in Toledo City while he was about to board a vessel bound for Negros Occidental.

Logreno is a native of San Carlos City.

In an interview, Logreno claimed that he and Muñoz were lovers, a claim that the victim’s boardmates denied.

Logreno said he lost his cool when the woman refused to have sex with him.

The suspect added that there were times when he felt jealous after seeing some men visting the victim in her room.

The suspect admitted that he sniffed shabu a few hours before the woman was killed.

The man denied raping the victim.

Police said Muñoz, who was separated from her husband, was sleeping in her room when the suspect barged in.

Police said the suspect allegedly raped the woman and threatened her not to tell anyone or she would be killed, said SPO3 Alex Dacua, homicide investigator of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).

Police said the suspect left the boarding house after the incident while Muñoz sought help from her boardmate Merlyn De Asis.

Police said Muñoz was unaware that the suspect was just outside the boarding house and heard her confessing to De Asis that she was raped and threatened by the suspect.

Police said Logreno returned to the boarding house and confronted the victim and De Asis.

Frightened, Muñoz and De Asis jumped off a window to escape.

Police said Muñoz lost her balance after the leap and slumped on the ground.

Logreno cornered the woman and stabbed her several times.

A 13-inch long knife believed to have been used in the killing was recovered in a shanty near the crime scene.

Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., chief of CCPO, said a team of police was immediately sent to Toledo after Logreno was identified as the one who allegedly killed the woman.

“Instinct na sa mga suspect nga mouli sa ila after committing a crime”, said Natu-el.

Depending on the result of the victim’s medical examination, charges for murder or rape with homicide would be filed against the suspect, police said. /WITH CORRESPONDENTs CARINE M. ASUTILLA AND JHUNNEX NAPALLACAN