Scout Ranger hacks wife, son to death

SAN ISIDRO, Isabela — A Scout Ranger, just back from the war-torn Marag Valley in northern Cagayan, hacked his wife and four-year-old son to death here last Sunday night, police said.

Probers said Cpl. Rey Bruno, a member of the dreaded striking force of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based in Gamu town in this province, probably killed his wife Alicia, 26, and son Julius Caesar, in a fit of anger or under an abnormal state of mind.

A witness said the couple had a heated argument over the soldier’s alleged extramarital affairs prior to the killing.

The bodies of Alicia and her child, both bearing multiple hack wounds that nearly severed their arms, were discovered Monday morning by Alicia’s mother, Rosita Nazareno.

After two days of hiding, Bruno surrendered yesterday to Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Alvarado, 5th ID commanding general.

Bruno was recently pulled out from Marag Valley, a stronghold of communist rebels, for retraining. — Lito Salatan