By Ariel P. Avendaño and Mar T. Supnad
Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija/Camp Olivas, Pampanga — Police arrested Friday night the primary suspect in the family massacre in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.
6 MURDERS — Jessie Tesoro, 34, suspected of killing his live-in partner and five other members of their household while under the influence of liquor in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, is presented to media yesterday after his arrest in Tarlac City. (Ariel P. Avendaño)
Chief Superintendent Amador V. Corpus, regional director (RD) of the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3), said 34-year-old suspect Jessie Flores Tesoro was caught off guard when police arrested him at 7:45 p.m. at his hiding place in Barangay Cut-Cut 1, Tarlac City.
About 15 hours earlier, Tesoro was seen running away from a bloody crime scene in Purok 6, Barangay Tambo-Adorable in San Leonardo – where six bodies were found with multiple knife and hack wounds.
Killed were Tesoro’s live-in partner Jennifer Cariaga, 24; and their housemates Leonila Caballero, 48; Caballero’s children Sergio, 29; Amy, 12; and Joshua, 10; and Sonny Custodio.
“I might not have done it if I was not under the influence of liquor,” Tesoro was quoted by police as saying in Filipino. He allegedly killed them using a bolo, said Corpus.
Enraged after a quarrel with Cariaga the night before, Tesoro also attacked Annalyn Caballero, 19, who managed to run out for help despite her wounds. She is now recuperating at a hospital in Cabanatuan City.
Two children who were in the house during the attack – Judy Ann Cariaga, 5; and Shane Custodio, 1 – were unharmed.
“I really spared the two kids because I know they cannot testify against me,” probers quoted the suspect as having told them.