German national, Filipina wife killed in Bohol robbery incident

By Ronron
April 13, 2007

A 69-year-old German national and his 59-year-old Filipina wife were killed in a pre-dawn robbery incident on Friday inside their residence in Bohol province, police said.

A report from Region VII police identified the victims as Helmut Malinka and Eustaquia Malinka, both residents of Barangay Laya, Baclayon town.

Baclayon Municipal Police Station Officer-in-Charge SPO2 Bonifacio Paredes said Helmut, who has resided in Bohol since 2004, and Eustaquia died due to multiple stab wounds.

An initial autopsy on Helmut’s body by the municipal health officer also revealed he was fatally hit several times by a hard object.

“We suspect the motive for this is robbery. The two suspects were only after money since a passbook and laptop of the couple were missing,” Paredes said in the Cebuano dialect when reached by phone.

He said the couple’s helper, Virginia Saluza, survived the incident since she was just hogtied by the suspects all throughout.

Paredes said Saluza learned of the incident when she was awakened by the shout of Helmut for help. When she went out of her room, she was met by the two bonnet-wearing suspects and immediately tied her hands and feet.

Saluza estimated the incident to have happened at around 2 am. When she was able to free herself after the suspects left, Saluza ran to the police station to report the incident, Paredes said.

Saluza told police that the suspects were armed with a short firearm, a revolver and a hunting knife. But she said the suspects did not use the guns and suspected that they just used it to poke at the Malinka couple.

Paredes said Eustaquia, who was occupying the master’s bedroom, was first killed by the suspects. Then the latter went to Helmut, who was occupying the guest room.

Paredes described the Malinka’s bungalow house as nice and big, secured with a gate, but visible from the highway. He said a passerby can tell from the outside that the owner of said house is really well-to-do.

Paredes disclosed that Helmut is a retired pilot, and is believed to be surviving only out of his pension from his home country. Paredes said he is not aware about any business of the Malinka’s in town.

Police are still determining the total amount of the lost valuables inside the Malinka’s residence, as the investigation continues for the identification and arrest of the suspects./DMS