Story By: Simon Glover, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Cops are hunting a 34-year-old suspected paedophile over the murder of his 14-year-old “girlfriend” who was fatally stabbed and dumped in a septic tank at the school where he worked.
Picture Credits: AsiaWire/@arnold.bustamante.18 & AsiaWire/@chenchen.penas
Police are hunting Jessie Mediquillo who they say “was in a relationship” with schoolgirl Tessa Marie Igay who had been stabbed 23 times before her body was dumped at Cogon Elementary School in the city of Danao in the central Philippines province of Cebu.
The teenager’s jobless father allegedly knew about the “relationship” but did not object as he thought the security guard could be Tessa’s best hope of a secure future.
But Mediquillo was reportedly jealously violent and would threaten to hurt Tessa’s family if she did not come to see him, once even shaving off her hair.
Lieutenant Colonel Maribel Getigan, the chief of the Danao City Police Station, said it was believed Tessa was repeatedly stabbed before she was dumped in the septic tank. She had also suffered head injuries.
Police believe Mediquillo killed Tessa at the school and then dumped her body in the septic tank to conceal it as the school is surrounded by houses.
Tessa attended another school in the city but regularly visited Cogon Elementary School to see Mediquillo who worked there as a security guard.
The teenager’s family raised the alarm after she failed to return home and her sister reported her disappearance to police the following day.
That same day, police received a report from another security guard at the school that blood stains had been discovered in the guard house.
Police investigated and found a bloodstained piece of wood, a kitchen knife, a metal pipe, burned clothing and Mediquillo’s uniform jacket bearing his name tag.
Two days later, a caretaker at the school called cops to report an unusually pungent smell coming from the septic tank and officers found Tessa’s body inside.
Mediquillo is believed to have gone on the run and police stations across the province have been asked to help track him down. The police investigation continues.
