- ** WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT **
- Mario Furton admitted cutting his neighbour’s head off after a petty dispute
- He said he was ’embarrassed’ after she called him a thief in front of his children
A 65-year-old woman was allegedly beheaded after clashing with her neighbour who then ‘gifted her severed head to his friends’ at a local pub.
Rosalina Abing Asilo had been confronted by Mario Furton, 48, over flowers planted near her home in Bayugan City in the Philippines on January 2.
Tensions soared when Rosalina allegedly screamed back at her neighbour and called him a thief after he complained the flowers’ thorns were becoming a nuisance.
Furious and embarrassed, Mario went drinking with his friends later that afternoon, later deciding to march over to Rosalina’s local store wielding a sickle.
He is alleged to have pounced on the helpless woman, who was manning the store alone at the time, decapitating her.
Mario was said to have then laughed and returned to present the severed head to his friends back at the drinking table, before being arrested by police and confessing.
Police arrived to detain Mario as shocked neighbours crowded to look at the gruesome scene.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Shalom Faye Cornelio, chief of the Bayugan Police Station, told local media: ‘The suspect was in the middle of drinking beer with friends when he asked them, ‘Do you want a gift? I will give you one, just wait’ before going to the victim’s store.
He had a bolo – a curved knife used widely in the Philippines as a farming tool – with him which he used to chop off her head.
‘The suspect returned to the farmer’s building 200 metres away from the store carrying the woman’s head and said, ‘Here is my gift to you’.
‘The root of the attack was a minor argument about the victim’s flowers,’ police added.
‘They were blocking the suspect’s path, and he became mad because they were thorny.’
Speaking to local reporters while detained, a smiling Mario said he ‘regretted his actions’.
He said: ‘I was hurt because she called me a thief in front of my children when I was trying to talk to her calmly.
‘I am sorry to the victim and her family. I only did it because I was embarrassed.’
Rosalina’s husband Buenaventura Asilo, 65, said his wife was alone at the store because he had left to work at the local fish pond until 6 pm.
He said: ‘I had no idea what had happened because we seldom talked with the suspect.
‘My wife and I have no children, that’s why she was alone during the attack.
‘She has four kids with her previous husband. I am talking with them so we can take legal action.’
Authorities said Mario had been a respondent in several drug-related cases.
He was scheduled to undergo a drug test to check if he was under the influence during the assault.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
