Suspect in twin Manila slays gives own version

The man accused of murdering the wife and house maid of an education official in Sta. Ana., Manila, on Thursday denied that he killed the first victim and maintained that he only defended himself when the second woman attacked him.

Speaking to reporters while in detention, John Adrian Edquilang insisted he had nothing to do with the death of his mother-in-law Lucita Menguito but admitted hitting the maid, Jennifer Magtulis.

Menguito was the wife of Assistant Director Ponciano Menguito of the Department of Education’s National Capital Region office.

Edquilang, a businessman and pilot, claimed that when he entered Menguito’s house on Pasig Line Street before noon Thursday, Magtulis struck him from behind with a hard object but he managed to hit her back with a vase “in self-defense.”

As Magtulis fell unconscious, he said, he saw Menguito already sprawled on the living room floor.

The suspect said he immediately left the house using his sister-in-law’s car, afraid that he would be accused of the crime.

He was arrested hours later based on an account from a neighbor who saw him entering and leaving the crime scene. The white Honda Jazz he used as getaway vehicle was recovered by the police Friday morning in Paco.

The case investigator, PO3 Bernardo Cayabyab, said the body of the maid was found in the bathroom, her head bearing multiple lacerations and covered with a white shirt. Menguito was found in the living room also with lacerations on the forehead and with a blue towel on her face, he added.

Insp. Paul Dennis Javier, head of the Manila Police District’s Crimes Against Persons section, said the Menguito family as of Friday had yet to state any reason why the suspect would kill his own mother-in-law and her maid.

Edquilang faces charges for two counts of murder and car theft.