Jealous Man Beheads Live-In Partner While 'High On Drugs,' Takes Daughter Hostage

A man was arrested after he beheaded his live-in partner inside their home and took their three-year-old daughter hostage. The incident took place in Quezon City, Philippines, on Thursday.

Police responded to the area after receiving a report of a man, later identified as 34-year-old Alejandro Llena, holding a girl at gunpoint. Upon arrival, the officers negotiated and convinced the man to surrender the weapon. The responding officers then took the man into custody and rescued the girl, who was identified as the man’s daughter.

The girl told the officers that her mother was dead in the house. The officers entered the home and found the headless body of the victim, identified as 38-year-old Maricel Alejo, in the bathroom. The decapitated head was found in the dining area of the home. The officers then noticed stab and gunshot wounds in the victim’s body and went on to find bullet fragments and a butcher knife from the scene.

When asked about why he killed the woman, Llena said he committed the crime because someone whispered to him to do it. Police said the accused was “high on illegal drugs” when he murdered the woman. Though the exact reason behind the crime was not known, the victim’s relatives told police that the couple had a fight over the man’s jealousy just before the murder. The couple was living together for several years now and both of them were jobless. While the victim’s body was sent for autopsy, Llena remained in custody. The investigation was ongoing.

In a similar incident in Nigeria earlier this month, a man beheaded his girlfriend following an argument. The incident came to light after the neighbors noticed blood spills near the door of the home and alerted the police. The responding officers broke open the door and found the victim lying in a pool of blood. The accused, who fled the scene after committing the crime, was arrested the following day. During interrogation, the unnamed accused said the two got into an argument after having sex and in a fit of rage, he strangled and beheaded her.