THE police are preparing the murder charges against an elderly man who killed his partner at their residence in Barangay Lemery, Calatrava on February 21.

Chief Inspector Rocky Desear, town police chief, said the case will be filed on February 26 against Pedro Britanico, 79, who surrendered to the authorities a day after he committed the crime.

Desear said Britanico and his partner Girlie Matosa, 28, were having an altercation over money inside their house when he allegedly hit her with a wood.

He (Britanico) hit her again several times until she died, the town police chief added.

The suspect then borrowed a shovel from his neighbors and allegedly buried the victim at the back of their house.

His neighbors saw blood on his clothes when he approached them on the day of the incident.

In the evening, their neighbors saw the body of the victim partly buried.

This prompted them to call for police assistance.

When the police arrived at the area, they recovered a wood used in the crime and some clothes with bloodstain in the bedroom.

Desear said the suspect sought help from the barangay officials when he surrendered the following day.

He said the suspect and the victim, whom he alleged to have a mental illness, have been living together for three years.

According to their neighbors, they usually quarrel, Desear said.

The suspect told the police that he committed the crime because his partner did not give him money.

Britanico is detained at the police station. (GYM)