THE MANILA police on Thursday night arrested a sex worker accused of killing a client in Sta. Mesa two weeks ago.
“I killed him because he reminded me of my ex-boyfriend who cheated on me,” Michael Mendoza, 29, told the Inquirer hours after he was accosted at a mall in Quezon City, reportedly his favorite hangout when looking for clients.
In an interview, Mendoza recalled what supposedly happened on the night of Feb. 16 between him and the victim, George Zapata, 49, at the latter’s Sagana Tower unit on Ampil Street.
They arrived at the condo unit both drunk, he said. It was their second meeting. “I remember taking a shower and falling asleep afterwards. When I woke up, I was naked. I asked him if something happened between us but he said none.”
Mendoza thought Zapata was not telling the truth so he started hitting him. “I remembered my former boyfriend who cheated on me. It felt like they were the same kind of people who take pleasure in telling lies.”
A fistfight ensued until Mendoza got hold of a pair of scissors and stabbed Zapata in the chest. “After that, I blacked out,” the suspect claimed.
His last memories of the incident were that of “blood spurting out” and him covering the victim with a blanket, taking another shower, and rushing out of the condo.
Zapata’s body was found in a pool of blood the following day by a janitor and a security guard. The police said the victim had 21 stab wounds, as well as cuts on the right elbow suggesting that he tried to parry the attack.
Senior Insp. Rommel Anicete, head of the Manila Police District’s homicide section, said Mendoza also ran off with Zapata’s two cell phones and tablet.
The MPD was able to track down the suspect based on a tip from another sex worker who knew of Mendoza’s dealings with Zapata.