Traced through his pawned loot and the footprints he left at the crime scene, a houseboy was found guilty of killing the 75-year-old mother of actress Cherry Pie Picache in September last year, when he robbed the victim’s house in Quezon City.
“I’m just very happy because justice was served to my mom,” Picache said after the conviction of Michael Flores, who earlier confessed to the crime.
“I’ve always been against the death penalty, so reclusion perpetua is OK with us. In that duration, we hope he can finally realize and accept the evil that he had done, repent and, at the end, gain his dignity back as human being.”
The actress attended Thursday’s promulgation with some relatives and great grandchildren of the victim.
Flores was convicted of robbery with homicide for the killing of 75-year-old Zenaida Sison.
Judge Alfonso Ruiz II of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 216 sentenced Flores to reclusion perpetua, or imprisonment of up to 40 years, and ordered him to pay P1.3 million in damages.
“We are very grateful to Judge Ruiz and his court. Sobrang sipag nila (They worked hard). It’s only been a year,” Picache said.
On the stormy night of Sept. 19, 2014, Picache and her driver went to Sison’s house on Scout Lazcano Street, Barangay Paligsahan, when the actress got worried because her mother wasn’t answering her calls.
They found her dead in the bedroom. The medical examination later showed that she sustained a total of 34 wounds and was stabbed with a kitchen knife and bashed in the head.
Prosecution witnesses testified that the muddy footprints and wet clothes found in the crime scene belonged to Flores, who worked as a part-time helper for Sison.
The prosecution also presented witnesses saying Flores approached them to pawn a cell phone and pieces of jewelry that belonged to Sison.
Flores pleaded guilty when arraigned in October 2014.
In his extrajudicial confession and during the arraignment, Flores said he was under the influence of drugs when he committed the crime and that he only intended to rob the house.