Fil-Am faces life imprisonment for strangling, burning ex-girlfriend's daughter
Romulo Gregorio, Jr., a 41-year-old Filipino-American in New Jersey, is facing life imprisonment for allegedly strangling and burning her ex-girlfriend's 20-year-old daughter some three years ago.
According to the online version of US-based newspaper Manila Mail, Gregorio was found guilty of killing Christine Mariano, daughter of his former girlfriend, Claire, a Filipino-American nurse, at their home in Stevens Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey.
He is due to be sentenced on March 18 and is facing 30 years up to life in prison, said the report, posted on Sunday (US time).
‘Horribly charred’
Christine’s body, said to be “horribly charred,” was found naked on her mother’s bed in September 2009.
Before she was killed, she and Gregorio reportedly had an argument about “his failed relationship with her mother,” which ended two weeks earlier.
A “sexual portion” of the 20-year-old’s body, according to prosecutors, “had been doused with accelerant and lit.” A Bible was burnt beside her.
The Manila Mail said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Sal Rozzi earlier disclosed to the jury “that Claire gave Romulo an ultimatum that he had to start going to church if the relationship was to continue.”
“Think of the symbolism of his putting Christine Mariano [on] her mother’s bed with a Bible next to her,” Rozzi said.
Frantic
Photos published on the local paper Jersey Journal showed that Gregorio was comforting the victim's mother, who arrived from work and found her house in flames.
In its report, the Manila Mail noted that in her testimony late last month, the mother said “she had no idea” that Gregorio was beside her during that time.
She disclosed that when as she was opening the door of her car, Gregorio came up to her and said, “Hi, Claire. Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“The only time I saw (Gregorio) with me, honestly, was in the newspaper,” she said. “I had no idea he had his arm around me. I didn’t know what was going on.”
”I just knew my child was missing, I needed to know what happened, if I could help her, if I could save her,” she added.
A firefighter approached her as they managed to kill the blaze, she added, and told her that “a woman was found in the bedroom”—her bedroom, which was reportedly locked. The mother said she “never locks it,” the report said.
“I was very anxious and he couldn’t contain me so he called a female cop. She said, ‘Ma’am, you don’t want to remember her this way.’ That’s when I realized she was gone,” Claire said. - with Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, VVP, GMA News
According to the online version of US-based newspaper Manila Mail, Gregorio was found guilty of killing Christine Mariano, daughter of his former girlfriend, Claire, a Filipino-American nurse, at their home in Stevens Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey.
He is due to be sentenced on March 18 and is facing 30 years up to life in prison, said the report, posted on Sunday (US time).
‘Horribly charred’
Christine’s body, said to be “horribly charred,” was found naked on her mother’s bed in September 2009.
Before she was killed, she and Gregorio reportedly had an argument about “his failed relationship with her mother,” which ended two weeks earlier.
A “sexual portion” of the 20-year-old’s body, according to prosecutors, “had been doused with accelerant and lit.” A Bible was burnt beside her.
The Manila Mail said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Sal Rozzi earlier disclosed to the jury “that Claire gave Romulo an ultimatum that he had to start going to church if the relationship was to continue.”
“Think of the symbolism of his putting Christine Mariano [on] her mother’s bed with a Bible next to her,” Rozzi said.
Frantic
Photos published on the local paper Jersey Journal showed that Gregorio was comforting the victim's mother, who arrived from work and found her house in flames.
In its report, the Manila Mail noted that in her testimony late last month, the mother said “she had no idea” that Gregorio was beside her during that time.
She disclosed that when as she was opening the door of her car, Gregorio came up to her and said, “Hi, Claire. Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“The only time I saw (Gregorio) with me, honestly, was in the newspaper,” she said. “I had no idea he had his arm around me. I didn’t know what was going on.”
”I just knew my child was missing, I needed to know what happened, if I could help her, if I could save her,” she added.
A firefighter approached her as they managed to kill the blaze, she added, and told her that “a woman was found in the bedroom”—her bedroom, which was reportedly locked. The mother said she “never locks it,” the report said.
“I was very anxious and he couldn’t contain me so he called a female cop. She said, ‘Ma’am, you don’t want to remember her this way.’ That’s when I realized she was gone,” Claire said. - with Rose-An Jessica Dioquino, VVP, GMA News
advertisement
advertisement
advertisement
