MANILA, Philippines — Police cleared three “persons of interest” in the death of restaurant magnate Victor “Vicvic” Villavicencio in his San Juan City residence last Monday, an official said yesterday.
Villavicencio, 67, was earlier reported to have died of cardiac arrest, but police said he allegedly shot himself by accident in the bathroom.
Villavicencio’s son, Victor Sixto Jose, and two other members of the household tested negative for gunpowder burns, meaning they did not fire a gun, according to Brig. Gen. Christopher Tambungan, director of the Eastern Police District.
“I ordered the three persons of interest to undergo paraffin tests and they were negative for gunpowder burns. Only the victim was found positive so he was the only one who fired the gun,” Tambungan said in an interview.
He clarified that Villavicencio’s son and the two others were not considered suspects but he ordered them to undergo paraffin testing “so the truth would come out.”
Villavicencio’s son and two others were talking in the victim’s house in Barangay North Greenhills when the son heard a gunshot.
The son rushed into the bathroom and saw his father bleeding. The three rushed Villavicencio to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, where the victim was declared dead on arrival, police said.
Police officers who responded to the scene recovered a 9mm pistol with its chamber loaded, a magazine loaded with eight bullets, a spent casing and a pouch in the bathroom.
Tambungan said there is no foul play in the death of Villavicencio, who owned the Saisaki, Kamayan, Dads and Samboko Jin restaurant chains.