POLICE arrested a drug-crazed houseboy who killed his female employer by hitting her head with dumbbells inside her apartment in Quezon City over the weekend.
Quezon City Police District director Chief Superintendent Joselito Esquivel Jr., said the suspect, Donato Dollente, known as “Bong,” 51, was tagged in the killing of 55-year-old Maria Joy Maskariño, a certified public accountant.
According to the police, Dollente was a houseboy of Maskariño family for almost 10 years.
Initial investigation showed that at around 3 p.m., Saturday, Maskarino’s brother, Edgar, and his wife contacted the victim who did not answer despite several attempts.
At about 6 p.m. the same day, the couple decided to check Maskariño at her apartment on Cleofas Street, in Barangay Pasong Tamo.
Upon entering the unit, they saw the bloodied victim slumped on the floor, prompting them to immediately report the incident to authorities.
Based on investigation, the victim was hit in the head with a hard object that caused her death.
QCPD-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) investigators found a grocery receipt which revealed that the victim was last seen with Dollente in a grocery store at around 12 noon on Friday.
Authorities went to the house of Dollente on San Ville Street in Barangay Culiat and invited him for questioning at the CIDU office in Camp Karingal, at around 3 a.m., Sunday.
During interrogation, Dollente admitted that he killed the victim by striking her head with dumbbells to rob her money and personal belongings, but explained that he was only high on illegal drugs prior to the incident.
He also told police that he broke the glass window and cleaned up the crime scene.
Three hours after, police investigators recovered inside Dollente’s house the stolen laptop, tablet, mobile phone, wristwatch, identification cards, ATM cards, bankbooks and P7,000 cash of the victim.
Police also found out that the dumbbells used in hitting the victim were hidden by the suspect under the kitchen cabinet in the victim’s apartment.
Dollente is now under police custody and will be brought for inquest at the city prosecutor’s office for robbery with homicide case. (Alexandria San Juan)
