Slain Filipina Housekeeper Hailed for Fighting Off Burglars in Toronto

PHILIPPINE VILLAGE VOICE - Redefining Community News

Currents & Breaking News
Volume 4, Issue No. 5
 / News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /


. . . . . A community service of Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Tuesday, May 11, 2010

~ A tiny 27-year-old Filipina housekeeper had been strangled to death fighting off burglars in an upscale Toronto suburb where she kept watch over a huge mansion for her employers. On Tuesday, the widely-circulated Toronto Sun bannered her story that happened in 2007 and carried an account of the trial of two Ecuadorian immigrants that had begun the day before. "Maid Died a Hero," the newspaper headline screamed, instantly calling attention to the thousands of Filipinos who work as caregivers and nannies in Canada.

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Slain Filipina Housekeeper Hailed
as a Hero for Fighting Off Burglars




By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ


TORONTO, Canada - A 27-year-old Filipina housekeeper who was killed fighting off burglars is being hailed here as a "hero," her tragic story bannered Tuesday (May 11, 2010) by the widely-circulated Toronto Sun.

The brutal slaying of Jocelyn Dulnuan, a native of Cagayan province in northern Philippines, in her employers mansion in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga in 2007, has highlighted the risks and dangers facing Filipino caregivers.

Toronto, capital of Ontario province, has the biggest Filipino population in all of Canada, running into over 250,000. A significant chunk of that number works as caregivers and nannies.


Government prosecutor (referred here as Crown Attorney) Steve Sherriff said Dulnuan tried to protect her employer's property by valiantly putting up a fight, and managed to scratch one of the suspect's arm and chest.

Authorities have identified and arrested two suspects -- Cristian Figueroa, 37, and Fabian Loayza-Penaloza, 39 -- who are both immigrants from Ecuador.

Members of the jury of 12 trying the suspects had scheduled a visit on Tuesday (May 11) to the scene of the crime, a huge mansion occupying 30,000 square foot in an upscale neighborhood in Mississauga.

Members of the media, including this reporter, had been advised by court authorities against joining the jurors during the tour of the mansion owing to concerns expressed by its owners.

At the trial's opening on Monday (May 11, 2010), Sherriff laid out the case against the suspects. He recalled the gruesome events leading to Dulnuan's death, which he said was caused by a copper wire, doubly wrapped tightly around her neck.

"The wire around her neck was knotted and pulled very tight," he said. "The Crown's case is that the wire was a murder weapon of opportunity".

The Toronto Sun said Dulnuan "was murdered for trying to be a hero".

In his account, Sherriff said Dulnuan appeared to be in the way of the planned burglary. "As long as she was conscious, she posed a problem" for the burglars, he explained.


(This Currents & Breaking News may be posted online, broadcast or reprinted, on condition that the author and the publication be properly credited. By Romeo P. Marquez, Editor, Philippine Village Voice, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Volume 4, Issue no.5, May 11, 2010).