15 years jail for killer of Filipina businesswoman

Killer jailed for stabbing popular Filipina businesswoman Lorna Lim Varona in Dubai before stuffing her body in the boot of her own car and abandoning it Sharjah.

Lorna Lim Varona, front centre, whose body was found on stuffed in a bag in her car. Courtesy Varona family

Salam Al Amir

DUBAI // A man who stabbed a businesswoman to death and dumped her body in the boot of her car has been jailed for 15 years.

Filipino R A, 49, lured his compatriot Lorna Lim Varona to his flat in Karama by saying he wanted to repay a debt.

He stabbed her and pushed her out of the first-floor window as she tried to escape. He then ran down the stairs and stabbed her in the neck until he was sure she was dead.

The killer put her body in the boot of her car and abandoned it in Sharjah Industrial Area 11.

Varona’s body was found on August 31 last year after her husband reported her missing.

“I was asked to go to Sharjah Police, where I was asked about the relationship between my wife and R A. I told them he owed her money and as a guarantee she kept his passport,” her husband said.

The killer was arrested and told police Varona had destroyed his life and the lives of his family. He claimed he had to take his three children out of school because he owed her so much money.

He was charged with premeditated murder and prosecutors said he had planned the killing two weeks in advance.

They asked the Criminal Court to sentence him to death and said he had admitted killing her during interrogation. He pleaded not guilty at his trial.

“I did not kill her and I didn’t push her, she jumped from my window,” he said.

He will be deported after serving his sentence. The verdict is subject to appeal within 15 days.