Armless killer strikes again, slays 2nd victim

A 30-year-old amputee and former Smokey Mountain scavenger is again headed for a long stay in jail after he stabbed dead his second victim Saturday night, using a knife he barely had enough fingers to grip.

Crispin Polintan, who in his younger years was almost hacked dead by four men who mistook him for his cousin, stabbed dead a pedicab driver Alberto Bacsal, 37, at about 9 p.m. in Balut, Tondo following a heated argument.

Police said Bacsal, of Rodriguez street, Balut, sustained multiple stab wounds in his shoulder, armpit, and legs.

Bacsal did not make it alive to the Tondo Medical Center.

Polintan, of Davao street, Balut, had his right arm severed up to near his shoulder while his left thumb was also cut off as a result of the hacking incident.

He said that to this day the hacking remains unresolved.

"He (suspect) reportedly continued to stab the victim although he (victim) was already sprawled on the pavement," said Western Police District (WPD) homicide investigator Senior Police Officer 1 Danilo Vidad.

Polintan, now heavily tattooed and a Sputnik prison gang member, was released from the New Bilibid Prisons last June after serving out his minimum sentence for homicide.

In May 1991, Polintan was jailed for repeatedly stabbing a man with a "gantso", a hooked metal rod used for picking-up trash on Smokey Mountain.

Polintan said he was forced to kill his first victim after the latter chased and stabbed him. Polintan had already lost one of his arms by that time.

He said his first victim was extorting money from one of his friends before he killed the victim.

"When the family of my first victim learned that I had been released, they stormed our house and wanted to attack me but they were pacified," said Polintan. "They did not bother me again. Perhaps, they thought that I have paid my dues in jail."

Police said Polintan, who is jobless, and his latest victim got into a spat at the corner of Davao and Rodriguez streets after the suspect, ironically, attempted to extort money from Bacsal.

Polintan denied this.