Businesswoman slain in Parañaque home; hunt on for lover

The police have launched a manhunt against the boyfriend of a businesswoman who was found dead with 15 stab wounds inside her Parañaque City residence on Wednesday night.

The body of Menchie Modesto, a 42-year-old online seller of dresses and fashion accessories, was found inside her second-floor bedroom at Teoville 3, West Lourdes Street in Barangay BF Homes around 6:30 p.m.

Senior Supt. Victor Rosete, the city police chief, said they are considering Edwin Casas, Modesto’s 35-year-old lover from Calumpang, Marikina, as the suspect based on security videos obtained from the
house.

The case investigator, PO3 Napoleon Mallare Jr., said one clip showed Casas sleeping in the kitchen before rising up and grabbing a knife around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The suspect was later seen in another footage pretending to be asleep after seeing another man — the family driver — going to the kitchen.

When the man was no longer around, Casas entered Modesto’s bedroom. He was the last person seen leaving the room around 7 a.m., Mallare said.

Casas may have been driven by jealousy to kill the victim, the officer said. “We are looking at that angle because, according to the family driver, he saw the the victim and the suspect having a fight days
before she was killed.”

The suspect also served as a messenger in the victim’s online business, the investigator said.

A knife handle was recovered at the crime scene while Modesto’s cash and other valuables inside her room remained intact, Mallare added.

The victim’s family members had to force the bedroom door open after noticing that she had not come out for hours.