Judge hangs self in QC

A 43-year-old Metropolitan Trial Court judge killed himself in an apparent suicide attempt inside his own house in Batasan Hills, Quezon City the other night.

Judge Arnel Peralta, of the Tarlac MTC and a resident of 7 Villa Amor 1 Subdivision, was found hanging from the wooden beam of the staircase by a nylon looped around his neck.

Investigators have yet to determine the reason for the apparent suicide attempt, but sources said the victim might have had several "death threats" from unidentified callers.

The judge was discovered by his wife Teresita at about 7 p.m. Police said the wife managed to bring down the body and immediately rushed him to the Malvar General Hospital. But it was too late.

The wife told probers that she noticed her husband looking "troubled" during the past week. The victim, however, did not disclose the cause of his worries.

"It is possible that he had been receiving grave threats. It is not uncommon for a judge to get such calls. He might have killed himself so as not to drag his family into his problems," one source said in an interview.

Operatives of the Central Police District are now conducting follow-up investigation on the case.

In Las Piñas City, a 22-year-old student took his own life after quarreling with his girlfriend the other day.

The victim was identified as Dennis Casanova, a resident of Barangay Almanza and a Computer Engineering student of the AMA Computer College.

PO2 Alberto Arevalo of the Las Piñas police Criminal Investigation Division said the victim’s mother last saw her son last Sunday morning when he arrived after a visit to his girlfriend.

She noted that her son was visibly depressed as he went inside his room.

The mother decided to check on him after several hours. After her son failed to respond to her repeated knocking, she was forced to use a duplicate key to open the door.

Inside, she was shocked to see her son hanging from the ceiling by a nylon cord looped around his neck. Police later found a note with the words: "Bakit, may 3rd party ba? (Why, is there a third party?)" – With Marvin Sy