Inmate stabs to death his sleeping cellmate

POTOTAN, Iloilo, Philippines - An inmate stabbed to death his fellow inmate who was sleeping at his bunk early morning of Sunday at the Police Station of this town.

Roberto Lenis, 35, of Brgy. Lumbo, Pototan, attacked Rey Patubo by choking, biting, and stabbing.

Patubo, 22, a village watchman at Brgy. Iwa-Ilaya, Pototan, Iloilo, sustained 19 injuries on the different parts of his body. His neck almost got severed from the number of wounds he incurred. He was rushed to the Iloilo Provincial Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

It was gathered that the victim's fellow village watchmen decided to put him on detention due to drunkenness. An hour after he was detained, Lenis attacked the victim for no apparent reason.

When the incident happened, Patubo's mother was just outside the lock-up cell. At the first attack, the mother immediately called for help.

Senior Insp. Lorenez Losaria, Pototan Police Station chief, said the duty jail guard and other policemen immediately opened the cell and neutralized the suspect. "But the incident was so quick in a matter of seconds. He just hopped in at the dozing victim and stabbed the latter non-stop," he added.

Lenis was detained Saturday afternoon after hacking his own mother, who fortunately incurred minor injuries. His relatives claimed that he was suffering from nervous breakdown. After the incident, Losaria ordered Lenis put under the mental health facility of the Iloilo Provincial Hospital.

The duty jailer was also ordered relieved from his post while an investigation is going on, while Losario admitted there was a failure in the checking of inmates for bladed weapons.