PUP prof slain in Pasay condo

A professor of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside his Pasay City condo unit Wednesday night.

A bloodstained, 9-inch kitchen knife lay next to the body of Isagani Sta. Maria, 57, when the crime was discovered at his 2nd floor unit at Greenery Building, One Metropolitan Place in Barangay 153, the police said.

The case investigator, PO3 Giovanni Arcinue, said the victims’ mobile phone and wallet could not be found in the unit.

In a statement to the police, a building security guard recalled seeing Sta. Maria being brought to the condo on a pedicab around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The guard, Victor Prado, said about an hour had passed when the pedicab driver who brought Sta. Maria home was seen again, this time leaving the compound in a hurry via Gate 2 on Apelo Cruz Street.

The driver was wearing a red baseball cap and a sports jersey with the number 44 on the back, Prado said.

Sta. Maria, an associate professor at the PUP College of Political Science and Public Administration, was found lying in a pool of blood around 8 p.m. by Daniel Alingeg and Gina Nunez, who attended the same church with the victim.

Alingeg and Nunez said they decided to go to the condo unit after Sta. Maria didn’t reply to their text messages. The unit’s door was unlocked when they arrived.