Parañaque policemen examine the car where the bodies of Fe Rafael and her son were found. Authorities are now looking for her husband, Danilo Rafael Sr., when he failed to turn up after the discovery of the bodies. MARICAR B. BRIZUELA
The Parañaque City police have started looking for a man accused of killing his wife and his namesake—their 18-year-old son—and stuffing their bodies into the trunk of the family car.
Danilo Rafael Sr., 55, emerged as the primary suspect in the deaths of his wife, Fe Rafael, 54; and their son, Danilo Rafael Jr., after he suddenly disappeared without a trace.
The bodies of the victims were found inside the baggage compartment of the family’s red Ford Fiesta with plate number TQU 896 at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Both had been clubbed to death, according to a police report.
The car, according to investigators, was left in front of the house of Fe’s parents in Multinational Village, Barangay (village) Moonwalk, Parañaque City. The victims lived nearby inside the same subdivision.
Fe’s brother Daniel Castro Jr. said that their family’s suspicions were aroused after they found the vehicle parked in front of their house very early in the morning.
Car arouses suspicion
This was odd, he told the police, since Fe had informed them that she, her husband and their son would be spending the weekend in Maragondon, Cavite, where Danilo Sr. had another house.
When he opened up the car, Castro said he found the bodies of his sister and her son.
Supt. Teofilo Andrada, deputy chief of the Parañaque police, told the Inquirer that the victims had been repeatedly hit in the head with a heavy object.
“We still cannot determine the weapon used to kill the victims, but it could be wood or any hard object based [on] the fatal head injuries of the two,” Andrada said.
For now, the police consider Danilo Sr. the suspect because “he was nowhere to be found and could not be contacted by the victims’ relatives,” the police official added.
The Special Operating Unit of the Parañaque police headed by SPO4 Charlie Bayoca also went to Danilo Sr.’s house in Cavite Sunday afternoon but failed to find him there.
Jealous husband
According to the police, the victims’ relatives have described the suspect as a jealous husband who was quick to get suspicious of his wife’s actions.
Fe was a project coordinator and contract manager for a construction company in the city, her LinkedIn and Facebook profile revealed.
A Civil Engineering graduate of the University of Sto. Tomas, she also worked for a family-owned construction firm from 1987 to 1992.
Investigators said they believe that the victims were killed elsewhere before their bodies were placed in the trunk of the vehicle.
The car was then driven to Multinational Village and left in front of the house of the victim’s parents.