A fish vendor was apprehended by the police last week, two-and-a-half years after he allegedly stabbed his own mother to death and then stole her money.
Capt. Lorenzo Alberto of the Bato municipal police station said in a report that the town’s No. 1 Most Wanted Person, Francisco Rojas Jr., 49, was arrested sometime before Jan. 12, 2023 and will now be tried for parricide at the Regional Trial Court.
It may be recalled that the lifeless body of Ester Teope Rojas, an 87-year-old World War II veteran, was found dead in her house at barangay Batalay on June 26, 2021.
Her grandson, Gilbert, told the police that he went to her house at 7 PM that night and left later to play Mobile Legend. He said that when he came back at 11:30 PM, he found her soaked in blood in her bedroom, with apparent wound on her head and with her belongings scattered.
Responding police personnel later discovered that the woman died from head injuries and that earlier that afternoon Rojas was accompanied by her daughter to Virac to withdraw money from a bank. A son also claimed that his mother was keeping about P80,000 in her cabinet.
A search of the crime scene turned up a LandBank ATM card and a receipt for a P15,000 withdrawal inside the victim’s bag but the money could no longer be found.
A source claimed that the autopsy of the victim’s body showed that an icepick was most likely used to inflict the puncture wound in Rojas’ head as well as multiple wounds on the body.
A P50,000 reward was offered by Mayor Johnny Rodulfo for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the senseless and brutal murder in the suspected robbery.
Following the suspect’s arrest last week, the Bato police said that several witnesses saw Francisco Rojas Jr. enter the house and kill the victim at around 11:35 PM on June 26, 2021.
The police said the crime arose from a family dispute and jealousy among the siblings.