A houseboy has killed his woman employer, her two children, and her one-month-old niece, before killing himself, early Wednesday, at St. Jude Subdivision, Valenzuela City, according to an Inquirer.com news report.
The victims were single mother Verna Castro, 36; daughter Hanna, 15; son Samuel David, 6, and baby Phoebie de Leon who was at that time under the care of the Castros.
The lone survivor in the family, Joshua, 12, was able to escape and get help despite being stabbed 20 times. What he did was to exit through a second-floor window of the house. Then, he jumped to the roof of the house of their neighbor.
His cry for help was heard by resident Manuelito Chan, who just happened to be walking by the area. Manuelito helped Joshua come down from the roof of the house, rushed him to the hospital, and then informed authorities of the crime.
Joshua has remained in the intensive care unit of Valenzuela Medical Center.
He positively identified the killer as Jeffrey Turla, 27, the Castros’ houseboy for six years.
Turla may have sexually assaulted the mother, too, according to investigators.
“Rescuers found Verna alone naked on the first floor. Turla was found with his short pants’ zipper open and his genitals exposed,” according to Valenzuela police investigation section head Chief Inspector Noel Ramirez as told to the Inquirer in an interview.
They found Verna’s body on the first floor, bearing multiple stab wounds. She passed away seven hours later in the hospital.
The bodies of Turla and the children, including the baby, were all discovered on the second floor.
Turla appeared to have self-inflicted stab wounds in the body, while the children have stab wounds in their heads, necks, and bodies.
Found near their bodies were a pair of scissors, a kitchen knife, and a bloodied “Samurai,” also known as Japanese sword.
Police said that the motive of the suspect remains unknown, as five investigators are still trying to patch information based on Joshua’s story. They also said in the Inquirer report that the Castros treated the houseboy “like one of their own,” and no information has been established yet if there was a quarrel between any of the family members and the suspect.
The authorities also said the attacks started shortly past midnight on Wednesday inside the three-story home of the Castros.
The mother was said to be a businesswoman engaged in the sale and distribution of balut eggs, according to investigators in the Inquirer report.
