Truck helper arrested for rape-slay of 12-year-old

MANILA, Philippines—A truck helper suspected of raping and then killing a 12-year-old girl in Tondo, Manila, was arrested by the police on Tuesday morning.

Members of the Raxabago police station headed by its chief, Supt. Julius Anonuevo, said that they picked up 29-year-old Evert Espanillo around 11:30 a.m. at a house near Edsa corner Taft Avenue in Pasay City. This was after they were tipped off by his live-in partner that he was hiding there.

The police started looking for Espanillo after he was linked to the rape and murder of Josephine Dealagdon.

The young girl’s body was found on Monday afternoon under the wooden bed of the suspect inside his house at Unit 12, Building 30, Aroma Temporary Housing in Vitas, Tondo, said SPO1 Richard Escarlan of the Manila Police District homicide division.

Naked from the waist down, Dealagdon’s body was wrapped in a white curtain. She bore scratches on her neck, face and right arm.

Initial police investigation showed that the victim died due to strangulation because there was blood coming from her mouth.

Escarlan said the victim was last seen alive around 7 p.m. on Sunday evening when her mother Juliet asked her to buy water from a nearby store.

She was reported missing after several hours when she failed to come home.

SPO2 Arnel Tobias of the Raxabago police station said that the two playmates of the victims were the ones who found her inside the suspect’s house.

In their statements to the police, the two said they last saw the victim near the building where Espanillo lived. According to them, the suspect even asked Dealagdon to buy him a soda and some fruits from the sari-sari store where she was headed.

The suspect is currently in the custody of the Raxabago police station in Tondo, Manila.