Bride-to-be shot dead in lover’s quarrel

LUCENA CITY, Philippines — A lover’s quarrel caused by intense jealousy snuffed the life of a bride-to-be in Tiaong, Quezon on Wednesday.

Superintendent Laudemer Llaneta, Tiaong police chief, said Marion Aguilar Vito Cruz, 39, accidentally shot dead his fiancée Janneth Lacdao San Antonio, 36, as they grappled for a gun that the girl was brandishing in a fit of jealous rage.

Llaneta said the couple went to Lusacan flea market aboard a car driven by Vito Cruz to buy some goods on Wednesday afternoon.

Upon reaching the market, Vito Cruz stepped out of the vehicle. While San Antonio was waiting, she opened the mobile phone of her boyfriend that was left in the car and discovered a series of text messages sent by another woman, Llaneta’s report said.

Furious of her discovery, San Antonio confronted Vito Cruz upon his return and a heated argument ensued between the two.

At the height of the woman’s rage as they were travelling home, San Antonio pulled out her boyfriend’s licensed cal .380 pistol placed between the front seats.

Vito Cruz immediately made a grab for the gun but the woman resisted, the police report said.

During their struggle, the firearm went off hitting San Antonio at the left side portion of her neck that exited through the other side.

Vito Cruz immediately rushed the victim at the Liwag Medical Clinic also in Tiaong but she was pronounced dead on arrival by the attending physician.

The incident was reported to the police at around 4 p.m.

“They were about to be married this month,” Llaneta told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

The police report described the two as overseas contract workers.

Quoting initial reports from investigators, Llaneta said the firing of the gun was accidental. “But we’re still investigating,” he said.

Vito Cruz is currently detained at the Tiaong police lock-up jail.