A man who allegedly bludgeoned his girlfriend, a City Hall employee, to death with a hammer, surrendered last night to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.
Eric Capulong turned himself in a few hours after the bloodied body of his partner, Connie Romero, was discovered in their home in Tondo, Manila. Moreno said his office received a call last night at about 8pm from Capulong, who allegedly said he regretted killing Romero, an employee of the Manila City Hall.
“He told me he was sorry. He just lost control of himself,” Moreno told news television show Bandila. Prior to the suspect’s surrender, Moreno had offered a PHP100,000 (US$1,900) reward to anyone who could provide information on Capulong’s whereabouts.
Police believe the suspect killed the victim after the latter threatened to leave him.
A neighbor in Tondo allegedly heard Capulong and Romero arguing at about 10:30pm on Monday night. “I heard them fighting,” she told news program TV Patrol. “Connie said, ‘I don’t have a man. You have to believe me. I’m just working.'”
After hearing about the argument, Romero’s sister visited the couple’s house at dawn and discovered the victim’s body lying on the bed in a pool of blood, her skull smashed in. Capulong had already fled the scene with his two daughters in tow.
The victim was taken to Tondo Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival, GMA News reported.
After surrendering to Mayor Moreno, Capulong told the morning show Umagang Kay Ganda that he suspected Romero of having an affair. “I saw on her cellphone… a picture of her and there was a man beside her,” Capulong said.
Colonel Carlo Manuel of the Manila Police District, in an interview with the same program, said that Capulong also confessed to his sibling that he killed Romero. “He told his sibling that he became extremely angry, which is why he did this crime,” Manuel said.
Romero’s sister said that her sibling had threatened to leave Capulong in the past, but the latter said that he would either kill Romero or commit suicide. A colleague of the victim said that Romero often complained that the suspect was an extremely jealous man who would often drop by City Hall to check on her.
Manila police are now preparing murder charges against the suspect.
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