CEBU CITY, Philippines—A 32-year-old Japanese woman was killed allegedly by her Filipino husband after she berated him for coming home drunk in the wee hours of Monday morning, the police said.
Kotoka Kajii Denila, a Tokyo native and mother of a 9-month old girl, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Lapu-Lapu City District Hospital.
Police arrested Dexter Louie Denila, 27, a native of Tagum, Davao del Norte, a few hours after the suspect fled the scene.
P02 Winston Ybañez, Lapu-Lapu City police homicide investigator, said that before the killing, Dexter was in a drinking session with his friends at a basketball court a few blocks from their house in Dominique Subdivision, Sitio Sudtongan, Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.
Ybañez said a drunken Dexter went home at around 2:45 a.m. Monday and knocked on the door of their house several times before Kotoka went down to let him in.
“The victim allegedly scolded the suspect for coming home late,” Ybañez said.
After scolding her husband, Kotoka went upstairs to go back to sleep in their bedroom on the second floor.
But Dexter went to the kitchen, got a knife, and followed his wife upstairs, Ybañez said.
The suspect then stabbed Kotoka before she could enter their bedroom, he added.
House help Jupel Baldoseno, who was sleeping on the ground floor, told police he was awakened by Kotoka’s shouting. When he rushed upstairs, he saw Dexter repeatedly stabbing the victim.
Baldoseno said he rushed out of the house to ask help from neighbors. But by the time the neighbors and the police arrived, Dexter had already fled, bringing with him the murder weapon, according to Ybañez.
Dexter was arrested at past 7 a.m. by policemen from Lapu-Lapu City police station 4.
Yabañez said the suspect was seen just roaming outside the subdivision, the murder weapon no longer in his possession.
The police official theorized Dexter was not only drunk but could also have been high on drugs because he could not respond properly to their questions.
The suspect claimed innocence, saying just saw his wife on the floor with several stab wounds and that he merely took the knife from her body.
The couple’s infant was taken into custody by the Lapu-Lapu City women’s desk and would be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The Japanese consul was in the police station Monday morning and efforts were underway to contact the victim’s immediate relatives in Tokyo.
Ybañez said that based on initial information, the couple got married last April 2011. Dexter was jobless while Kotoka was reportedly engaged in an unspecified business here, he added.