BACOLOD CITY – Police Col. Dennis Wenceslao, Negros Occidental police director, said the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Kristine Joy Dignadice was the result of a lover’s quarrel involving her and Police Staff Sgt. Enrique Gonzalodo Jr., a policeman assigned to the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO).

In a press conference on Monday, Nov. 3, Wenceslao confirmed that Dignadice and Gonzalodo were in an illicit relationship for about three years.

The couple reportedly met when Gonzalodo was previously assigned in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, where Dignadice resided.

Wenceslao said the victim was driving her car when the couple figured in an undisclosed argument between 8 a.m.  and 9 a.m. in Barangay Matab-ang, Talisay City, Negros Occidental on Oct. 29.

Citing the extrajudicial confession of the suspect, Wenceslao said that Gonzalodo’s 9mm caliber service firearm was placed near the handbrake when the victim allegedly tried to grab the weapon but he was able to hold it until it fired.

Due to panic, Gonzalodo drove to Barangay Don Jorge Araneta, Bago City, Negros Occidental, where he dumped Dignadice’s body, and later brought her car to Barangay Gargato, Hinigaran, Negros Occidental, where it was discovered abandoned with blood stains in the afternoon of Oct. 29.

Police said that Gonzalado allegedly tried to conceal the incident by diverting the investigation to a possible rape case after the victim’s lower garment was pulled down.

Because of guilt and conscience, Wenceslao said that Gonzalodo, assisted by his legal counsel, surrendered to authorities on Nov. 1, three days after the incident. He added that a witness positively identified the suspect when he escaped on board a bus.

Gonzalado claimed that it was an accident, but Wenceslao questioned this, saying that if it was indeed an accident, the police officer should have brought the victim to the hospital and not dump her in a sugarcane field in Bago City. Gonzalado’s service firearm was voluntarily surrendered to authorities for examination.

Wenceslao said Gonzalado was the only person involved in the disappearance and killing of Dignadice based on his confession.

Police Major West Edquilla, officer-in-charge of the Negros Occidental Scene-of-the-Crime Operatives (SOCO), said the victim sustained a lone bullet wound in the right shoulder with the bullet exiting through her neck.

Edquilla said the victim’s body was in an advanced state of decomposition when they subjected her to a post-mortem examination.