QC rob-slay suspects befriended maid

The suspects in the brutal robbery-homicide and arson in Quezon City last Tuesday may have befriended one of the household helpers prior to the heist and the members of the household were killed because they knew the suspects, according to the Quezon City Police District.

Based on the account of the lone survivor, octogenarian Victor Geronimo Jiao, the robbers took P3.4 million in cash and valuables.

Among those taken away by the suspects were P150,000; jewelry worth P1 million; paintings worth P750,000 and appliances worth P1.5 million.

QCPD director Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula believes the suspects might have befriended or even courted the maids before they staged the heist at the house of the Jiao family in Talayan Village.

“It could be that the suspects befriended the maids and that’s why they were able to gain entry into the village,” Gatdula told reporters in an interview. “So they (suspects) killed them (members of the household) maybe because the latter knew them and would be able to identify them later on.”

Superintendent Franklin Moises Mabanag, chief of the QCPD-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said it was a housemaid named Marie who reportedly let the suspects in before they barged into the living room and declared the heist.

Gatdula said it was also Marie who had the most number of stab wounds and she could be the one who was befriended by the suspects.

According to Gatdula, it has always been the modus operandi of “Akyat-Bahay” robbers to hogtie members of the household as they stage the heist.

However, Gatdula said it was the first time in recent years that the suspects killed the members of the household and set the residence on fire before they fled.

Gatdula said the fire was started at three points in the house and the robbers even opened the LPG tank, which later caused an explosion.

Fire Chief Inspector Danilo Jamito, chief of operations of the Quezon City Fire District, told The STAR that arson investigators were on site yesterday to get debris that would be brought to the laboratory to determine what the suspects used in setting the house on fire.

Felicitas Jiao and granddaughter Nina and housemaids identified as Marie, Gloria and Lilian were killed during the heist. The adults were hogtied and stabbed several times while the granddaughter had a rope looped around her neck.

Victor Geronimo, a retired physician and husband of Felicitas, survived the attack but suffered a stab wound and third-degree burns in his body.

Superintendent Lino Banaag, chief of the homicide section of the QCPD-CIDU, said the retired physician is already out of danger and is recuperating at a hospital.

Mabanag said that based on the account of witnesses, the suspects fled in two Mitsubishi L300 vans with plate numbers UFX-473 and ZJP-660 and a tricycle (PV-7504).

According to Mabanag, the tricycle’s owner was traced to Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City. He refused to divulge the identity of the registered owner of the vehicle but said investigators went to check on the latter yesterday afternoon.

Gatdula said Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has directed that the suspects in the case should be dealt with the “full force of the law.”