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Monday, December 13, 2004
Japanese hubby finds wife dead in room
By Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- A Pharmacology student was found dead in her bedroom Sunday morning with at least eight stab wounds in her neck, hands and cheek.
Police are investigating if the death of Katherine Serreņo Hasegawa, 38, was robbery-related or if she was raped before she was killed.
Katherine was found by her husband Hiroyuki Hasegawa, 42, lying on her back with her slacks and underwear pulled down to her ankles and her shirt pushed up.
Hiroyuki, a native of Yamanashi, Japan, told Sun.Star he wondered why nobody answered when he knocked on his wife's bedroom door.
The couple separated in the 1990's, but Hiroyuki said they still lived in the same building although in different rooms. The couple used to own Kingston Pension House along M. Velez St.
When it went bankrupt, they decided to have the rooms rented out to boarders.
Hiroyuki occupies room 201 while Katherine occupies room 301, a floor higher.
Good terms
While he admitted they were separated, he said they were in good terms while maintaining separate relationships.
Hiroyuki said that the night before, he invited Katherine to watch videos with him. She declined because she was watching television.
She also mentioned to him she was going to attend a baptismal rite in the morning.
He said they did not fight after he left.
Hiroyuki said Katherine's cellphone, some cash and pieces of jewelry were missing.
He estimated the cash to be between P15,000 and P20,000, reportedly rental of the boarders.
Police theorized that Katherine struggled with her attacker as suggested by the wound on her hands.
While her other things in her room were in order, the items inside her bag were strewn on the floor.
Police found an old kitchen knife with a new scabbard made of newspaper and tape and a pair of men's briefs stashed inside a drawer.
Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar, who led his operatives in inspecting the crime scene a second time, said they will submit the knife and the underwear to the Crime Laboratory for analysis.
Hiroyuki said the underwear must have belonged to an old boyfriend of Katherine's.
It also seemed Katherine knew the perpetrator.
Possible exit
According to Hiroyuki that while the door was closed, it was unlocked when he opened it to find Katherine on her bed.
He noted that she normally locked the door with a bolt and chain.
Homicide investigators also searched the building for another possible exit, but found none.
They are looking for persons who may have seen the killer run outside.
There is no security guard detailed at the building. The owner of the bakery in the first floor promised to cooperate with the investigation.
Katherine lived alone in her room at Kingston Building. Her parents and siblings are all in Negros. She would have graduated in March.
Her body is now at the Cebu Rolling Hills Memorial Homes in Banilad awaiting autopsy.
(December 13, 2004 issue)
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