Man kills pal over pawned mobile phone

MANILA, Philippines - An argument over a pawned cell phone led to the killing of a 29-year-old man by his friend in Manila Saturday night.

Roger Arceo, of Alley F, Telecom Compound, Sta. Cruz, died from multiple stab wounds after Roger Teodosio Jr. attacked him with a screwdriver at around 6:30 p.m.

Investigation conducted by Senior Police Officer 3 Milbert Balinggan showed that Teodosio pawned his mobile phone for P100 to Arceo, with a promise to give him an additional P20 in interest.

However, when the suspect was trying to get back his mobile phone, the victim got mad. To appease his friend, Teodosio offered Arceo a cap owned by another person as a gift.

“I told him that if the owner will not get the cap then he could have it. But its owner asked for it so I told him I was taking it back,” Teodosio said in Filipino.

An argument ensued between Teodosio and Arceo, resulting in a fistfight.

Police said cooler heads intervened and pacified the two. But Arceo returned and threatened to kill Teodosio, prompting the latter to stab him repeatedly with a screwdriver.

The suspect was detained at the Manila Police District detention cell pending the filing of charges against him.