A senior citizen was stabbed to death Wednesday in Pavia’s Barangay Pandac after she was targeted for bananas. Authorities identified the fatality as 64-year-old Crispina Gerbasa of the said neighborhood.

According to police, the incident occurred around 1:50 p.m when the victim and her husband visited their farm to retrieve bananas. Upon their arrival, they noticed three individuals, identified as 39-year-old Victor Napawit, 50-year-old Eduardo Wales, and 41-year-old Joebert Ordanza, all residents of the town’s Barangay Balabag, holding bananas.

Gerbasa chased the suspects but was later mauled and stabbed several times.

The victim was treated at West Visayas State University Medical Center where she died from multiple stab wounds.

The three were eventually arrested after they were identified by the deceased’s husband; however, Napawit said the three had been drinking earlier but denied any involvement in the murder and claimed he had gone home.

“Wala na ako kabalo kun ano ila ginpanghimo pagakatapos kami nag-inom kay nagpauli na ako (I don’t know what they did since, after we drank, I went home),” he insisted. (Wala ko ya kapatay sa tigulang (I did not kill that old person).”

Despite his testomony, the police report said Napawit was seen with the two other suspects and armed with a knife.

The three are currently detained at the Pavia Municipal Police Station./WDJ