Fit of jealousy over mystery textmate results in fatal shooting in Lapu-Lapu City

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

A  47-year-old painter in Lapu-Lapu city was fatally shot Sunday by his pregnant wife who suspected he was having an affair.

Samuel Soliano died instantly of a gunshot wound in the neck.

His wife, Editha, who is one month pregnant with their 10th child, was arrested  and detained by the  Lapu-Lapu City police.

“They have been quarrelling for a long time now about my father’s secret affairs, which no one was able to prove,” said Resadith Suliano, the couple’s daughter.

Police seized the murder weapon,  a .38 caliber revolver which allegedly belongs to the victim.

“I regret  killing my husband, but I cannot do anything about it now,” said Editha in Cebuano.

“He was a good provider but he was never honest with me. I left him once but he asked me to come back. He  promised to mend his ways, but he never did.”

The couple had been married for 26 years.

Homicide investigator PO1 Jomar Florentino said neighbors in barangay Marigondon heard two gunshots.

Police said prior to the killing, Editha had suspected her husband of having an affair.

She said that lately her husband was  fiddling with his mobile phone – sending messages to his textmate, a certain Leonor. At one time, Editha claims she was roused from sleep after Samuel  started talking in his sleep and was calling out Leonor’s name.

She said  slapped her husband and confronted him, but Samuel denied any wrongdoing.

On Sunday, Editha went to the beach resort where her husband works to check on him. The security guard  told her that Samuel had left at 5 p.m.

Editha rushed back home but her husband was not there. She  took a bottle of liquor which Samuel kept at home and started drinking.

Editha then instructed her children to go to a relative’s sari-sari store while she waited for Samuel to come home.

When Samuel came in at around 8 p.m, Editha immediately confronted him about what took him so long to come home.

Samuel  told his wife that he was invited by a friend to a fiesta celebration, but Editha didn’t believe him and continued to question him about his alleged affair.

Editha then whipped out the revolver and shot her husband.

After the shooting, she instructed her daughter to call the police.

In an interview with Cebu Daily News, she said that her husband would no longer hand over his salary and would just give her a certain amount.

“To my children, please forgive me for what I did, I lost control. I was drunk and pregnant and having problems with your father, please take good care of each other,” Editha said.

A parricide case will be filed against the 41-year-old woman  before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutors Office. /Carine M. Asutilla and Norman V. Mendoza, Correspondents