Man gets 15 years for killing lover

MANILA, Philippines - A Caloocan City judge convicted a man of homicide Thursday for killing his lover five years ago and sentenced him to a maximum of 15 years’ imprisonment.

Regional Trial Court Branch 129 Judge Eleanor Kwong also ordered Jerry Kerr to pay the family of Plaridel Yuzon P1.3 million in damages. Yuzon died from more than 30 stab wounds.

Court records show that at around 11 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2007, Yuzon was found dead in his condominium unit.

Police officers arrested Kerr after they traced bloodstains from Yuzon’s room on the fifth floor to Kerr’s room on the second floor. They also recovered in Kerr’s room a bloodied knife used in the crime and Kerr’s blood-soaked clothing.

Kerr said he killed Yuzon in self-defense, claiming the victim attacked him first.

He said it was the second time he had sex with the victim, who had promised to give him P5,000. He added that he had known Yuzon for six months.

Kerr was charged with murder but Kwong reduced the case to homicide but rejected Kerr’s claim of self-defense because of the multiple stab wounds sustained by the victim.