Live-in partner of OFW massacres 4 kids to death in Trece Martires before committing suicide

Manila, Philippines – Four siblings, all minors, were found lifeless inside their home in Summer Homes, Barangay Cabuco, Trece Martires, Cavite on Thursday (March 9) after a live-in partner of their mother who works in Saudi allegedly lost his cool and stabbed all of them before committing suicide.

Trece Martires police chief Lt. Col. Jonathan Aznan identified the victims as Mari, 14; Bianca, 10; Joy, 8; and Conrad, 6.

The said children were living together with the suspect Felimon Escalona, 38, tricycle driver who acted as the  kids’ guardian while their mother Virginia works as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia.

She left the country last October

Initial police investigation said at about 12:35 pm, the police received a call from barangay officials regarding a commotion inside a house in Barangay Cabuco.

The house was padlocked so they had to use bolt-cutter to gain entry.

When the cops entered the house, they discovered the lifeless bodies of the children inside a room, together with the bloodied and weakened suspect, who reportedly stabbed himself with a knife.

Authorities immediately called ambulance to bring the suspect to the nearest hospital for treatment, but he succumbed to his wounds while receiving treatment.

Police suspect that the knife used by the suspect to stab himself in his stomach was the one he also used to kill the siblings.

Before killing himself, the suspect also wrote a message on the wall using blood, seeking forgiveness to his live-in partner.

Police said that the neighbors heard shouting and crying from the victims’ house before noon and asked their barangay officials to check on the commotion leading to the discovery of the incident.

Police suspect jealousy as the motive for the crime.

“Based on the narrative of  the (common-law) wife who is OFW that we spoke to through video call is that they fought as a couple through FB messenger conversations and reportedly the  man had been threatening the children at that time,” told J101.5 FM Big Radio in an interview, noting citing money and jealousy among the matters that the couple quarreled about.

In a Facebook post Thursday, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said that the victim’s mother Virginia is already on her way home from Saudi this Saturday.