STAB wounds from a 17-inch knife resulted to the death of 47-year-old married man in Tanauan, Leyte Wednesday afternoon, November 20.

Police identified the victim as James Candela, a resident of Barangay San Vicente in the nearby town of Tolosa.

The suspect Constancio Lumanta, 45, married, and habal-habal driver, allegedly killed the victim using a long kitchen knife after a heated argument and drunkenness.

The stabbing happened around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday along the national highway of Barangay San Roque, Tanauan.

In an initial investigation, Candela was drinking coffee at Maruto’s bake shop beside the Rose beauty parlor where the said suspect and his family were staying.

The suspect’s wife is a manicurist of the beauty parlor while the victim was a regular costumer of the wife of the former, police said.

Due to an apparent grudge against the victim, the suspect confronted Candela.

The suspect then got a knife at the U-box of his single motorcycle and without warning stabbed the victim twice, hitting him in his chest area.

Candela was brought to Leyte Provincial Hospital in Palo town but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician Dr. Rhea Mentos Tobilla.

Police arrested Lumanta after the incident.

The suspect is now at the Tanauan Municipal Police Station for proper disposition.