Taiwanese pleads not guilty in wife’s murder

MANILA, Philippines – A Taiwanese man, charged with parricide for allegedly murdering and dismembering his Filipina wife in February, pleaded not guilty before a Makati court yesterday.

Yuan Chang Kuo, 46, reportedly a surgeon, was assisted by his lawyer, Jorge Sacdalan, during his arraignment before Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148 Judge Andres Bartolome Soriano.

He was escorted by guards from the Makati City Jail.

The court scheduled the pre-trial conference on May 25.

The Makati City police filed a parricide charge against Kuo on Feb. 26 after the body of his wife, Rowena Cobalida Kuo, was found in the stockroom of their house in Barangay Pio del Pilar on the night of Feb. 23.

Rowena’s body was discovered by her daughters Joanne Jane Tiongco and Ywey Kuo.

Police said Rowena’s headless body was wrapped in a green blanket. Her arms had been cut off and her legs chopped off at the knees. The victim’s internal organs were also removed, police said.

?Probers later found the victim’s head in a cabinet while her limbs and fingers were recovered from the septic tank of the house.

?The victim’s children earlier told police that their mother went missing after she left home on the night of Feb. 22.

Probers earlier said they were eyeing jealousy and a possible “love triangle” angle as possible motives for the crime.