BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – For the third time, the self-confessed killer in the gruesome massacre of four persons in Barangay Tangub here tweaked his story.
Christian “Dondon” Tulot initially claimed there were three of them who bludgeoned the victims on April 4. Then he later said it was only him, and that a consuming anger drove him to commit the crime.
On Saturday, April 11, the day his aunts Jocelyn Nombre and Gemma Espinosa, cousin John Michael Espinosa and niece Precious Jona were buried, Tulot was filmed giving the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) more details of the crime.
It was morning of Easter Sunday (April 4) when he left the victims’ compound in Gardenville Subdivision onboard his motorcycle, Tulot began.
He was bound for Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental – a town about 53 kilometers east of Bacolod City.
Halfway of the drive, Tulot said, he realized having forgotten to bring with him a motor pump so he returned to the house at around 8 a.m.
Michael ushered him in, said Tulot, and he was persuaded to have a drink at a shack adjacent to the house.
But aside from drinking whiskey, Tulot sad, they were also snorting methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
At one point, according to Tulot, he asked Michael if he could now pay for the P35,000 he borrowed.
Tulot said he was forced to borrow from another aunt, too, as they were purchasing an air-conditioning unit.
Tulot said he offered a bargain (P10,000) to Michael. He said he was already pressured by his aunt to return the borrowed money. He also reminded Michael that he got no reason not to pay because “sa abroad man gaubra asawa ‘ya”.
Michael stood up to supposedly “makuha lang ATM” to withdraw money, said Tulot.
But he followed Michael to the house then things turned sour between them.
If Tulot were to be believed, Michael suddenly reached for a cane cutter (espading) and tried to attack him.
Tulot said he was able to get a hold of the Michael’s hand and tripped him, causing both of them to fall to the ground.
According to Tulot, he managed to get hold of a hammer nearby then started hitting his cousin with it, then he dragged Michael’s body outside of the house and in to the terrace.
His aunt Jocelyn came out, said Tulot, saw Michael’s body and shouted for help.
Tulot said he grabbed Jocelyn, led her to where he parked his motorcycle and started hitting her with the hammer multiple times, too. Jocelyn’s body fell beside Michael.
The suspect said he took the cane cutter, dragged Jocelyn’s body and hacked her several times.
With Michael and Jocelyn’s corpses under the daylight, Tulot said he heard Gemma screaming from the door. The suspect then came to Gemma and hit her neck with the hammer.
As Gemma fell down, Tulot again struck and hacked her several times.
The suspect then heard six-year-old Precious crying inside Gemma’s room. However, he said, he did not lay a hand on the girl.
Tulot said he instructed her to call for an ambulance as he went outside to urinate.
He then heard Precious answering the mobile phone and proceeded to grab the device.
Tulot said he gave Precious a computer tablet to watch cartoons. Minutes after, a mobile phone – Jocelyn’s –started ringing.
Tulot ordered Precious to answer the phone; the caller was Jonel, Jocelyn’s husband. Tulot said he told Precious that if Jonel asked for his wife, the girl must tell him “gapaligo pa”.
The suspect then went outside and covered the cadavers with a blanket and cardboard boxes. Then he went inside again and started scouring for the victims’ jewelry and other valuables.
Tulot said he cleaned the hammer and cane cutter, and hid them in the kitchen, then heard Precious still talking on Jocelyn’s mobile phone.
The suspect said he laid Precious down the sofa and killed her by suffocating her using a pillow.
Tulot then closed the house, fled to Don Salvador Benedicto with his motorcycle, and temporarily stayed at the house of one Nixon Real in the town’s Barangay Bunga where items stolen from the victims were later recovered.
Following the extrajudicial confession of the suspect, Police Station 8 commander Police Major Joery Puerto said they will file charges (four counts) of murder with robbery against Tulot before the Bacolod City Hall of Justice today, April 12.
Puerto said it is very likely that Tulot was haunted by his conscience, and that the effect of shabu had already worn out.
Tulot asked forgiveness from his family. He said she was remorseful.
The victims’ bodies were discovered on April 7./PN
