Man who killed brod-in-law released from detention

By Jennifer P. Rendon

No criminal case was filed against a farmer who admitted to killing his brother-in-law who allegedly raped his wife last week.

Thus, Jimmy Claudio, 44, a resident of Barangay Atimonan, Janiuay, Iloilo, has been released from detention.

Staff Sergeant Raymond Dailan, Janiuay police investigator, said Claudio had to be released after the reglementary period of detention lapsed Friday afternoon.

Claudio is the farmer who shot dead his brother-in-law evening of August 25 in the hinterland village of Atimonan.

He and his family decided not to go back to Atimonan to avoid tensions from rising.

Claudio surrendered to Barangay Captain Rebecca Lastimoso a day after the incident happened and was subsequently turned over to the police.

Despite Claudio’s admission that he killed habal-habal driver Roswald Casquite, Dailan said they have not filed the case because of lack of evidences, testimonies, and documents needed.

“So far, we only heard the side of the suspect and his wife,” he said.

When asked how far their investigation has gone, Dailan said they have not confirmed if Casquite indeed raped Claudio’s wife.

Casquite’s family assured the police, though, that they would cooperate with the investigation.

Days after the incident, police have yet to establish if the wife was raped or if it was a case of two consenting adults that were caught in a compromising situation.

There are also insinuations that jealousy may have triggered the incident.

In Claudio’s version, he claimed that his wife went to look for vegetables for their meal.

When she failed to return home, he looked for her.

He later saw her and the victim, Roswald Casquite, in a vegetated area of their village.

Casquite, whose wife is Claudio’s sister, was allegedly armed while molesting his wife. This prevented Claudio from attacking Casquite.

He instead went home to look for a gun.

Armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, he went back to the area where he last saw the pair but they were no longer around.

He scoured the area until he found his wife and Casquite sleeping together in a hut.

Claudio told Janiuay police investigators that he shot the victim.

Casquite was presumed to have instantly died due to a gunshot injury on his temple.

Major Eleazar Climacosa, Janiuay police chief, said police learned that Casquite’s family brought his body to a funeral parlor in Cabatuan two days later.

His wife also went to the police station on Friday morning. Thus, the case was not immediately investigated.