Woman in Lapu found dead in car

A 44-YEAR-OLD woman was found dead inside her car which was parked outside her house in barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu-City.

A .38 caliber revolver was found on the woman’s lap and a bottle of liquor beside her.

Senior Insp. Zenaido Pastorfide Jr., chief of the homicide section of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO), said Lynette Tagimacruz Stone may have shot herself in the mouth.

Police said the woman’s father, Edgar, was alarmed when he found his daughter bleeding inside the car around 5 a.m. yesterday, police said.

Edgar opened the car’s door using a duplicate key.

Edgar, however, was not convinced that his daughter committed suicide. He said he didn’t notice that his daughter had a problem.

Police found a court document in the car where Lynette was the respondent in an attempted homicide case.

Police said they will verify the authenticity of the document.

The gun found in the car will be turned over to the PNP Crime Laboratory for ballistic tests while a paraffin test will be conducted to find out if the woman had fired a gun recently, police said.

Edgar told police that his daughter left the house around 11 p.m Wednesday. Before she left, the father said they talked about their plan to have an outing to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.

The father said he noticed his daughter arrive around 1 a.m. when he heard their dogs bark.

The father said his daughter stayed in her car.

Edgar said his daughter had done it in the past where she just slept in the car after arriving home late.

Police said Lynette was married to a 69-year-old American lawyer.

The couple decided to live separately due to a misunderstanding, police said./CORRESPONDENT NORMAN V. MENDOZA