Foul play ruled out in couple’s death

The police have ruled out foul play involving a third party in the death of the Cavite-based couple who were said to have ingested toxic substances when found in a mall parking lot in Las Piñas last week.

Chief Insp. Eleazar Camiling of the Las Piñas police said the evidence so far showed that no one approached Juliet and Jose Maria Escano from the time they parked their Toyota Innova at the outdoor parking space to the moment a security guard found them dying more than five hours later on the night of July 9.

Juliet was found unconscious in the front passenger seat, her arms crossed on her chest and her feet on the dashboard, while Jose was found sprawled on the ground at the back of the vehicle.

Juliet was immediately rushed to the hospital while a nurse based at the mall attended to Jose Maria as he was still gasping for air and mumbling. They later died in separate hospitals.

Initial police findings stated their cause of death as “shock, secondary to ingestion of toxic substance.”

In a press briefing Friday, Camiling, the chief investigator, noted that the vehicle’s accessories and the couple’s personal belongings were intact and orderly when found by the police.

Citing security camera footage, the official noted that the couple parked their vehicle at 2:40 p.m. and stayed inside it for more than five hours.

“They parked in the corner of the lot, facing trees and plantboxes. There were many places in the parking area where they could have parked, but they chose to park there,” he said.

Juliet was a Security Bank manager while Jose was a sales manager at Maed Pharmaceutical Inc. A family member has reportedly asked the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a second autopsy before having their remains cremated on Tuesday.

A police report seen by the Inquirer noted that Jose Maria was also found with an incision on his left wrist and another on the left side of his chest.

Asked if the cuts were possibly self-inflicted, Camiling said: “Based on the evidence we have, we can have basis that this was not done by someone else. Only the two of them were in the vehicle.”

Earlier, the Las Piñas police disclosed that hours before they were found in the parking lot, the couple bought food and drinks from two major fast-food outlets in Muntinlupa City and Pasay City, based on receipts recovered by investigators.

Camiling on Friday noted that no customers of the two establishments complained of food poisoning that day.