An  hours-long  attempt by a  National Police (PN) negotiator  to persuade a Venezuelan man armed with a knife  and barricaded in a bathroom with his  estranged  pregnant wife and a five-year-old stepson to surrender, ended  in tragedy on Monday, January 21 when  the killer cut the throat of  the 27-years-old, and she became Panama Oeste’s first femicide of the year.

The murder of  Venezuelan Anghely Katherine Reyes occurred inside a house in the Altos de El Tecal residential area of Vista Alegre, in  Arraiján.

Neighbors of the victim, who had a court protection order forbidding her husband to approach the home said that the events began around 4:00 am., reports La Critica.

Darwin Eduardo Duque Sánchez,26, a former member of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces,  armed with a knife entered the house from the roof. He had been evicted days before by the Primary Care Prosecutor of Arraiján.

Inside the house, in addition to his wife and the child were two Panamanians, who left unharmed.

The Police negotiator tried for several hours to persuade the hostage taker to allow the child to leave and to surrender.

Duquet Sánchez  finally let the child  go free  and the Police  SWAT team used the diversion to  move into the house,

The former soldier cut his partner’s throat and tried to take his own life by cutting his neck. Both were taken to the  Nicolás Alejo Solano hospital in La Chorrera where the victim died. Sánchez is in serious but stable condition.