Man charged for Manila twin murders

MANILA, Philippines - A Department of Education official’s son-in-law was charged with two counts of murder and car theft by the Manila Police District (MPD) yesterday in connection with the killing of his mother-in-law and her maid.

John Adrian Edquiling, 37, a licensed pilot, denied killing 53-year-old Lucita Menguito but said he killed Jennifer Magtulos, 18, in self-defense. 

Menguito is the wife of Ponciano Menguito, 63, assistant regional director of the DepEd Manila Division.

“Every piece of evidence and circumstances point to Edquiling as the culprit. We have CCTV (closed-circuit television) footage showing him entering the house before the incident and leaving hastily a few hours later,” Inspector Dennis Javier, MPD homicide section chief, told The STAR. 

Herminigilda Barsana, a neighbor of the victims, said she saw the suspect knock on the gate of the Menguitos’ home on Pasig Line street.

She said a white Honda Jazz emerge from the gate a few hours later but she did not see Edquiling because the car’s windows were tinted. The Jazz is registered to Cherry Blessy Menguito, a daughter of the victim and sister of Edquiling wife, police said.

 Suspect’s alibi

Edquiling, in an interview at his cell, told The STAR he went to the house of his in-laws to talk to Menguito about her desire to sell baking materials on the Internet.

He said after waiting for Menguito, who was allegedly in the other apartment, he saw Magtulos with a kitchen knife and a figurine rushing toward him.

“I killed her in self-defense. Then I rushed to the other house and found my mother-in-law sprawled on the floor so I went out of the house,” Edquiling said. 

Asked why he did not call the police, Edquiling said he was afraid that he would be tagged as the suspect.

 Solid case

However, Javier said they have a solid case against the suspect.

He said the suspect went to the house of Menguito to ask money “because their electricity was cut.”

 Javier said they received information that Edquiling and his wife have been estranged from the latter’s family for several months, and that the Menguitos were supporting them financially.

“However, there were suspicions that the financial support had stopped when they had problems with his in-laws,” he said.

Edquiling was arrested in Parañaque City on Thursday afternoon.  

Police found the Honda Jazz parked at the intersection of Pedro Gil and Peñafrancia streets in Malate yesterday morning.