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Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Man who served time for killing pa convicted of stabbing wife to death
By Grecar Nilles
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
An unemployed man who earlier served time for killing his father was convicted again yesterday—this time for stabbing his wife dead out of jealousy.
Regional Trial Court Branch 24 Judge Olegario Sarmiento Jr. yesterday convicted Nero C. Tude, a resident of Ermita, Cebu City, of parricide for killing wife Bernadette on Dec. 23, 2000.
Parole
Aside from slapping Nero with an imprisonment term of 20 to 40 years, Sarmiento also directed Tude to pay the heirs of Bernadette P50,000 in civil indemnity, P50,000 as moral damages and P20,000 as temperate damages to cover the funeral and burial expenses.
Nero was earlier convicted of killing his father Rodulfo in 1990 but was later granted parole.
Parole is a privilege granted to a convict once he has served the minimum penalty of his sentence and has not committed any misdemeanor while in detention.
The Board of Pardon and Parole, comprising the justice secretary and four members, recommends to the President names of convicts for pardon and parole.
In the parricide case, witness Gabriel Tude, Nero and Bernadette’s son, said his father came home looking for his mother at 11:45 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2000.
Not long after, he heard his mother shouting, prompting him to open the door of the couple’s room, where he saw his father stabbing his mother.
Nero, who admitted killing Bernadette, said it was only accidental because he lost his “presence of mind” when he started stabbing his wife.
He said he was only driven by jealousy because his wife allegedly was having an affair with a neighbor in Ermita Beach, Cebu City.
Testimony
Nero added that when he confronted his wife about the rumors she was having an affair with a neighbor, Bernadette retorted that he shouldn’t meddle in her affairs since she was the one who is supporting their child.
Judge Sarmiento, in a six-page decision, still imposed the maximum penalty on Nero because passion could not be appreciated as a mitigating circumstance in a parricide case.
On the other hand, Judge Sarmiento also did not appreciate the testimony of a prosecution witness that Nero was a recidivist because it was reportedly alleged in the information or charge sheet against Nero.
“Considering that the crime of parricide is punishable by an indivisible penalty, the mitigating circumstance of passion and obfuscation or for not intending to commit so grave a wrong is of no moment,” Sarmiento said in his decision.
(December 8, 2004 issue)
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