A 35-year-old man from Lantapan, Bukidnon chopped to pieces, cooked and ate his 65-year-old neighbor, whom he killed for still unknown reasons.
The suspect, Teddy Villegas, is now facing murder charges before the provincial fiscal’s office in Bukidnon for killing Edwin Ma last October, after relatives of the elderly man filed a complaint against him.
According to Senior Insp. Danielo Bellezas, chief of the Bukidnon police’s community relations office, authorities recovered what remained of Ma in a banana plantation in Lantapan town.
Some parts of the victim’s body – which had been chopped off – were found strewn on the ground while several parts were inside a cooking pot.
It remains unclear as to why the suspect killed and cannibalized the old man.
However, Senior Police Officer I Roy Yacapin said, as per an Inquirer reports, that Villegas upon arrest appeared “to be disconnected from reality.”
“He was just smiling during interrogation. We need to have him examined,” Yacapin said.
He also added that the suspect could be suffering from mental problem.
Bellezas stated the incident needs a professional opinion from a psychiatrist in order to determine if the suspect was suffering from a psychological disorder.
The police chief pointed out that only an expert can attest to his (Villegas) real mental condition in court, which will decide if he can be acquitted or penalized.
He noted that the Lantapan police report had nothing on Villegas’ family history.
However, there’s a possibility that the suspect could be an illegal drug user, he added.
Bellezas also said that last September, depression also drove a Bukidnon mother to hack her three children. One of her children died in the attack.
The difference with Villegas’ case was that the woman did not try to cannibalize her children but attempted to take her own life instead.
Source: Visayan Daily Star