Man who killed neighbor gets 14 years behind bars

A resident of barangay Carreta who had confessed to killing his neighbor out of self-defense two years ago was convicted yesterday of murder by the Regional Trial Court and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

RTC judge Gilbert Moises ruled that Felix Patricio Sr. alias "Pating" has been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for stabbing to death Wilson Olmedo in Ponce Compound, Carreta, on January 16, 2004.

Patricio tried to convince the court that he killed Olmedo while trying to defend himself, saying that it was Olmedo who provoked him, but that he managed to successfully disarm him of his knife.

Patricio said Olmedo kicked him while he was standing at the window of his neighbor's house watching a television show at about 6 p.m. on the mentioned date. As a result, he fell to the ground.

According to Patricio, while he was lying on the ground, Olmedo pulled a knife and tried to stab him but he quickly grappled for the weapon and successfully disarmed Olmedo, then he stabbed the latter.

But witness Mario Hinoguin claimed that Olmedo was just standing near a chapel when Patricio approached him and stabbed him in the abdomen for no apparent reason.

Although Olmedo was already wounded, he was still able to run away, but Patricio chased him and stabbed him again.

According to the court, Patricio failed to prove all the elements of self-defense.

Moises ruled that after Patricio successfully disarmed Olmedo of his knife the danger to his life had already passed, if not substantially lessened.

"But yet, he proceeded in stabbing the already defenseless victim," said Moises, who rejected Patricio's claim that even after he stabbed Olmedo once in his stomach, the latter still continued to wrestle the knife from him. - Rene U. Borromeo/MEEV