Extended drinking spree leads man to kill nephew

While it may be normal for the elderly to tell off their younger relatives for engaging in overnight drinking sprees, they don’t usually stab them to drive their point home.

But this was what happened in Sampaloc, Manila, Sunday morning when Federico de Leon, 56, stabbed and killed his nephew, 24-year-old Joe Marie, after they fought over the latter’s overnight drinking binge with his friends.

The trouble started when De Leon woke up in their home on San Jose Street at around 7 a.m. Sunday only to find Joe Marie and his friends still having a few rounds although they had started drinking the night before.

After De Leon told the young men to call it a night and go home, Joe Marie and his friends left the table, but only to buy more alcohol at a nearby store.

When they returned, Joe Marie was irked to find that his uncle had already cleaned up after them and stowed away the glasses.

An altercation ensued with De Leon flying into a rage and stabbing his nephew twice in the torso. He fled from their house afterward, prompting the police to launch a manhunt.

Joe Marie was taken to Ospital ng Sampaloc but eventually died of his injuries.

Asked why De Leon would stab his own nephew over such a seemingly small thing, case investigator Police Officer 2 Jupiter Tajonera of the Manila Police District Homicide section explained that the older man actually had a history of violence.

“He was back in the country, unemployed, after being jailed in the United States for 15 years for a crime we have yet to determine. But he also had previous records. He was brought to Manila City Jail for a stabbing case which was eventually settled by barangay (village) officials,” Tajonera said in Filipino.