DUBAI Pablo Varona, 65, husband of Dubai-based Filipino businesswoman Lorna Lim Varona, said he will seek the death penalty for a family friend who is the prime suspect in the murder of his wife.
Lorna, 51, was found in a pool of blood in her car trunk in Sharjah on August 31, five days after she was reported to be missing.
“I want the maximum penalty. He was a cold-blooded murderer. He took my wife’s life, it’s just right that he must pay for it with his own,” said Varona, an engineer with US oil industry service firm McDermott. “She had a soft spot in her heart for friends. She lent over Dh250,000 to this man over a period of time. We’ve known him for about 20 years,” said Varona, who has worked in Dubai since 1978.
suspect’s confession
The suspect, known by his nickname “Eric”, has reportedly confessed to the grisly crime.
Varona said the suspect’s main motive in killing his wife was to get his passport back from her. “He earlier offered his passport as collateral for a personal loan which was also guaranteed by security cheques,” said Varona. “He’s been in and out of jail due to bounced cheques.”
“He thought he could get out of Dubai quickly, but from what I know, he has overstayed his visa. He had a lifestyle problem, supporting a number of families,” he said.
Varona met his wife in 1980 when she was 19 and worked at the Hyatt Regency as a receptionist. They got married a year later.
Lorna was one of the few independent Filipina entrepreneurs who ran a string of businesses in Dubai. She drove a Jaguar, her family lives in a villa and they spent their holidays in the US or Bahamas. “She was a good mother and raised our four children who have become successful in their chosen careers,” said Pablo.
All their children were born and raised in Dubai. Two of their sons — Joseph Luke, 27, Joseph Louis, 26 — both hold double degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering from Mapua, one of Manila’s top engineering institutes.
Their eldest daughter, Maria Lourdes, 29, is a manager at a call centre in Manila.
The youngest daughter, Maria Liza, 24, helps run their mother’s business in Dubai — which includes Seaworld Tourism, Capricorn Star Building Cleaning and Technical Services, ProTeam Décor and Building Maintenance, and a general trading company.
“It’s so hard to accept that my mum was murdered by someone she treated as a friend,” Maria Lourdes told XPRESS. She had flown to Dubai from Manila upon learning about her mother’s disappearance. “I was devastated. My mom was too young to die.”
— With inputs from Habiba Abd El Aziz
