Solving the 1926 murder in Talamban, Cebu

A widower, an old man who lived alone in his house in the barrio of Talamban of the Municipality of Cebu (now City of Cebu) who owned five parcels of land which he had rented at a moderate price per year, that in his house he had three trunks in which he kept his clothing, documents and dishes, that in the month of January 1926, he received the sum of P130 as the proceeds of the sale of some mangoes which he had gathered from his trees.

On the early morning of February 23, 1926 (1:30 a.m.), the neighbors of the widower were awakened by cries which they heard in the house of the widower. A neighbor opened the window and noted that the widower had ceased to cry loudly but was then only groaning. That a little later two neighbors called the name of the widower, that inasmuch as the widower did not answer, but heard him groaning, the two neighbors went down out of their house to arouse the widower. They then went close to the fence which surrounded the house of the widower and they made noise, calling the widower, but heard no answer.

The neighbor then suggested that they would come up to see if the widower was sick. They loosened the chain which closed the door of the fence and then entered the house of the widower. Upon arriving at the third rung of the stairway they saw a man who was going to the kitchen. They then hastened their steps and they saw another man dressed in a shirt carrying a hammer. The man then hit the neighbor on the stomach with a bolo. When the other man saw that his neighbor was hit on the stomach, he returned to his house and cried to his wife that there were robbers in the house of the widower.

The neighbor got a bolo and went back to the house of his neighbor and carried his wounded neighbor back to his house and made an effort to place the intestines in their place but was unable to do so before he died at about 2:00 in the morning.

Benito G. del Mar, a policeman assigned in the barrio of Talamban, upon receiving notice of what happened in the house of the widower went with another policeman, Vicente Villaflor,  to the house of the widower. They saw a bench covered with blood that upon the floor a cap, a hat, a bottle of wine called "masuy", a dagger with a wavy blade and a sheath. There were also two pairs of slippers and a lamp beside the bench near the bed.

In that robbery, two men died, the widower and the neighbor who went to his house to check upon him. There were three suspects of the murder and robbery. After the police investigated the crime, a complaint was filed against the suspects. The Prosecuting Attorney of the Province of Cebu filed in the court of justice of Cebu on February 26, 1926 (four days after the crime), the crime was called frustrated robbery with double homicide. The suspects were then arrested and preliminary hearing conducted on March 18, 1926 and arraigned. The Justice of the Peace then remanded the case to the Court of  First Instance for trial.

Presented as witness by the police was a cochero who took the suspects to the house of the widower, who saw one of them carrying a bottle of wine called "masuy" (this was found on the crime scene). A woman, days after the murder, found in a group of buri trees near the road, a bolo, which was believed to be the bolo of the widower. Another neighbor, while cutting sugar cane, found in the field a hammer wrapped in a bloody shirt, it was found near the house of the dead widower.

Juan Bta. Goitia, the health officer of the Talamban District who was called and made an examination of the dead widower found that the deceased sitting on the floor found thirty five wounds, his skull was also fractured. One of the suspects made a confession that he had gone to the house of the widower and admitted that he was guilty. However during the hearing claimed that he was abused by the policeman to make the admission.

Judge Adolph Wislizenus found the accused guilty of the crime of robbery with double assassination and sentenced the three with the penalty of death. One of the accused appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The decision of the Court of First Instance was modified and the accused given the penalty of perpetual imprisonment instead of the death penalty. The case of one of the accused was dismissed on August 6, 1926 as the latter died in the provincial jail of Cebu on June 22, 1926.

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