Employer, 2 others sued in case of beheaded maid

Richelle Sagang was last seen alive being taken by the three suspects in a BMW, according to the police.—contributed photo

A complaint pursued by a Zamboanga del Norte-based farmer, who came all the way to the capital to find his daughter decapitated, led to the filing of murder charges against three suspects, including the victim’s employer in the upscale Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City.

After a monthlong investigation, the Makati City police filed criminal charges over the gruesome death of Richelle Sagang, the 17-year-old domestic worker whose head and body were recovered 37 kilometers apart.

The employer Aleli Froilan Yap, and Akiko Nyron Lindon and Crissamae Aniel Chali were earlier considered persons of interest in the case. A complaint for murder was filed against them in the Makati City prosecutor’s office on Friday afternoon.

Last seen with victim

According to the complaint, Sagang worked at Yap’s residence at the corner of Caimito and Tamarind streets in Ayala Alabang. Chali was the maid’s coworker while Lindon was a makeup artist residing in Tondo, Manila.

The police said they were last persons seen with the victim before she was killed. The complaint did not specify the alleged roles played by Yap, Lindon and Chali in the killing.

“When [Sagang] was brought to the Ayala Alabang Village security office, the victim already suffered violence and her bruises and contusions were covered by makeup to hide (them),” according to the investigation report attached to the complaint.

“The conclusion was supported by statements and witnesses and documents to prove thereof suspects conspired in the commission of murder of Richelle Sagang,” it added.

Look-out bulletin

Sagang’s father Noel, a farmer, stands as the private complainant. The Southern Police District (SPD) earlier formed Task Force “Sagang” to focus on the case.

Justice Secretary Vitalliano Aguirre also ordered the Bureau of Immigration on Friday to issue a look-out bulletin against Yap.

Hours before Sagang’s headless body was found in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, on Jan. 12, the maid was brought by Lindon and Chali to the security office of Ayala Alabang to notify the guards that she had been fired by her employer for alleged theft.

The police obtained a sworn statement from a village security guard saying Yap had insisted that Sagang be “banned because the maid owes her a lot.”

Another security guard told the investigators that he saw Sagang and the three suspects leaving the security office in a BMW, and that he heard Yap saying they were going to return Sagang to her manpower agency.

On Jan. 14, two days after the maid’s body was recovered, her head was found in Balisacan Creek in Barangay Pinagkaisahan, Makati. Her father later arrived to claim the remains but had to wait for DNA tests to confirm that they were indeed his daughter’s.

The SPD director, Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario Jr., earlier said Sagang was also shot in the chin.