Mar. 22, 2008
Luck will really kill you if you don't know how to handle it.
Did Arturo Eupeña, the 52-year-old cabbie who was killed by masked men for his lotto prize money of P19 million, take his secret to the grave? where is the money?
His adopted son, Reynan, 34, who has emerged as a suspect in the robbery-holdup of his father, has been adamant in claiming that Eupeña has only collected P250,000.
But a cousin of Arturo broke her silence yesterday to confirm that the Eupeña family has received P4.25 million of the P19.6 million pot from the Oct. 12 draw.
Meanwhile, Arturo’s common-law wife, Leticia—she who had bought the winning ticket, showed up in the office of Antipolo police chief Jose Dayco to deny involvement in the holdup. She was accompanied by a certain Capt. Abella, an investigator from Camp Crame.
Leticia, who was not in the house when Arturo was killed by five men who barged into his house,was mentioned as a suspect by the police.
PCSO officials insist that all the winnings of Eupeña have been released. If so, where is the rest of the prize money, amounting roughly to P15 million?
Reynan has vowed to collect the remainder of his father’s winnings after he was grilled by investigators on why it took him so long to come to the aid of his father when he was just a paper-thin wall away
Eupeña’s cousin tried to exonerate Leticia, who is suspected of being in cahoots with Reynan in plotting to kill Arturo.
The cousin said if money were the motive, then Leticia could not have been the mastermind because she bought the winning ticket. She said she was with Leticia when the latter bought the ticket at the PCSO outlet at Super Palengke in Antipolo City.
The thieves got away with P92,000 in cash and a second-hand van bought from the proceeds of the prize money.
The cousin said she is willing to present her testimony to Dayco and his men. She confirmed that the main suspect is “just within the circle,” as the lawmen surmised, and if there is one person to suspect, it is Reynan.
Dayco has not taken Leticia off the list of suspects. He said they still have to collect evidence and interview key witnesses to prove their theory, but he vowed to solve the crime within the next few days.
At Arturo’s wake, a pair of chicks were placed atop the victim’s coffin.
According to superstition, the placement of the chicks would induce a guilty conscience to spend sleepless nights until he or she spills his guts and admits the crime
Meanwhile, the tragic death of Eupeña seems to have taught bettors to become more selfish and secretive.
“What happened to Eupeña is a lesson to be learned by winning bettors.
If you win the jackpot, you should not announce it, again you should not announce it. just keep it to yourself.
