2 hammered to death

A businesswoman and her eight-year-old daughter were robbed and beaten to death with a hammer by her two former employees early yesterday morning inside the victim’s home in Parañaque City, the police said.

Victims Marilou Vasquez, 48, a seafood supplier in upscale malls, and her daughter, Bea Marie Jamelo, a second-grade pupil, died on the spot from severe head injuries.

Police said the victims were repeatedly bashed in the head with a hammer. Vasquez was also stabbed in different parts of her body.

The victims’ bodies were found lying in bed in the master’s bedroom bathed in their own blood. Police said the room’s ceiling and walls were splattered with blood.

The police arrested suspect Michael Andrade, 20, of Barangay Moonwalk, Parañaque while trying to escape. His companion Dominique Lingayo, 19, remains at large.

Investigation revealed that Andrade was Vasquez’s former delivery van driver while Lingayo was a helper.

Andrade owned up to the crime during police interrogation, said case investigator Senior Police Officer Alberto Pareña of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

Pareña said they are not discounting the possibility that the suspects were high on drugs when they committed the crime and immediately ordered a drug test to be conducted on Andrade.

A member of the Southern Police District-Scene of the Crime Office (SPD-SOCO), PO2 Edwin Adora said that Andrade admitted taking shabu before he and Lingayo committed the crime.

Investigation showed that the suspects entered the house located at 169 Molave Avenue, Molave Park, Barangay Moonwalk between 11 p.m., Tuesday and 2 a.m. yesterday.

Mother and daughter were said to be alone in the bungalow and sleeping in the master’s bedroom when the suspects broke in.

Pareña said Vasquez may have awakened and tried to lock the bedroom door when she heard the noises but was overpowered by the suspects. Policemen said they believe the young girl was asleep when the suspects attacked her.

The suspects ransacked the room and found Vasquez’s bag containing her wallet. With the victims dead and their loot on hand, the suspects tried to make good their escape.

But a subdivision security guard saw Andrade climbing over the subdivision wall and became suspicious.

When the guard accosted Andrade, the suspect scampered away and a foot chase ensued, Pareña said.

The commotion caught the attention of roving Pasay City policemen, who collared the suspect. The subdivision, Pareña said, was near the boundary of the two cities.

As the police frisked Andrade, they recovered a Nokia 3210 cellular phone and Vasquez’s black wallet with P3,310 in cash that led authorities to the house and the discovery of the gruesome crime.

PO2 Adora said his team found the bloodied hammer in the kitchen sink. Also recovered were two bladed weapons and a fan knife.

Police said the two suspects worked for Vasquez for at least a year and resigned from their jobs only last month.

Andrade has been charged with robbery and double homicide. Police are looking for Lingayo.