Investigator SPO4 Lito Diaz told The STAR in a phone interview that 61-year-old Estrellita Paas, presiding judge of Branch 44 of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, was stabbed in the head and nape.
Her husband, lawyer Reinerio Paas, found her dead. She was alone in the house when the incident happened.
Inspector Bernardo Aromin, officer-in-charge of the police station here, he said Paas’ hands were tied behind her back with wire.
Some strands of hair were found on her hands, prompting scene-of-the-crime operatives from Urdaneta City to suspect that there was a struggle, Aromin said.
The police got samples of fingerprints and bloodstains for laboratory analysis but the results were not yet available as of press time.
Paas last talked to his wife at about 1 p.m. last Friday before he attended an induction program in a school here. He discovered the killing upon his return home.
Paas was rushed to the Eastern Pangasinan District Hospital in Tayug town, but she was pronounced dead on arrival.
The police found Paas’ cellular phone, camera and caliber .22 rifle missing. There were no signs of forcible entry into the Paas residence.
The Paas family is requesting the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct further investigation of the judge’s killing.
The STAR learned that the couple neither had househelp nor family driver. Their children are living in Manila and Baguio City.
The police are looking into several possible motives behind the killing, although Paas’ husband said his wife had no personal enemies.
Natividad Mayor Alejandre Supnet met with the police and ordered them to intensify their information-gathering on the case.