Suspect in sales clerk murder gets 17 years imprisonment

LUCENA CITY – The primary suspect in the murder of a sales clerk here late last year was sentenced to 12 up to 17 years imprisonment by a local court on Friday.

Jomar Manlapaz Aganan pleaded guilty for robbing and killing Vheanca Punzalan, 19, before Judge Romeo Buenaventura of Regional Trial Court, Branch 59 in Lucena City, said Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, Calabarzon police director.

Aganan was also ordered to pay P150,000 for damages and civil indemnity to the victim’s family.

“I commend all those responsible for the resolution of this sensational case. Once again we have proven that if we just join our efforts, the community, the police and all the stakeholders, justice will be served,” Eleazar said.

On November 17, 2017, Punzalan was found lying in a pool of blood inside a boutique shop in the city center. She was naked from the waist down and with a knife stuck in her right eye.

Aganan, 24, was arrested almost four months later, on March 7, for theft but eventually admitted to killing Punzalan.

Aganan, who admitted he had sniffed rugby before committing the crime, told investigators he just wanted to rob the shop but stabbed Punzalan when she resisted.