A FILIPINO American man was fatally stabbed to death in his own home in Las Vegas on Friday, August 27, according to the authorities.
Vergel Guintu, 48, had just returned home from dropping his son off at school when he heard a noise in his Summerlin residence located in the 10000 block of Kenton Place. While investigating, he was stabbed in the neck by 16-year-old Ethan Goin.
Detectives said that Guintu’s wife and mother-in-law were at home when the incident happened. Guintu was in the kitchen when he heard someone breaking in and left his mother-in-law to check out the noise, as reported by Fox 5 Vegas.
Guintu’s mother-in-law told detectives that she heard another noise and saw an intruder dressed in all black and a hood pass her. She also saw Guintu lying on the floor in a pool of blood, according to the report.
Guintu’s wife, who was upstairs when the incident took place, called 911 after coming down and seeing her husband.
The Las Vegas Fire and Rescue arrived and pronounced Guintu, who suffered from multiple stab wounds in the neck, dead at 12:45 p.m.
According to Fox 5 Vegas, crime scene analysts and forensics technicians discovered a light-colored hair on Guintu’s wrist during his autopsy.
The next day, a neighbor alerted the authorities about a suspicious person, described as a white male with blond hair and dressed in all black, in the area around the time of the incident. The police later located Goin, who fit the physical and clothing descriptions, getting into a rideshare vehicle.
Fox 5 Vegas reported that the detectives noticed blood on Goin’s boots while they were speaking to him. The teen then fled east on Via Roma Place, but was found hiding in the parking structure of Summerlin Hospital.
Goin was arrested and charged with open murder in connection with the death of Guintu. He told the police that he left first period at school after feeling he was being bullied, and then broke into a random home that turned out to be Guintu’s.
According to Goin, what happened inside Guintu’s house was “a blur.” He later returned to school after the incident and even passed the crime scene.
The report said that Goin realized he had stabbed someone when he saw news reports about the incident near his home.
Goin is currently booked in Clark County Juvenile Detention Center. He was reportedly denied bail in a Thursday hearing. His next court date was set for September 9.
Guintu’s family set up a GoFundMe page to help with the funeral expenses. As of this writing, the page has raised over $3,000 of its $30,000 goal.
“Many people describe Vergel to be vibrant, kind, forgiving, passionate, patient, kind hearted, and most of all, SELFLESS. Vergel was a driven and goal-oriented individual that was full of life and dreams,” the page description read.
It also said that Guintu was a clinical instructor, initially teaching students in the Philippines and most recently at Roseman University in Las Vegas, Nevada.
He was also a “proud Don Bosco alumni,” according to the page.
“As a nurse, he continued to inspire change and motivation as a staff and charge nurse in UMC’s Cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVCU),” it noted.
“Vergel’s family was his rock, his life revolved around them, and he loved them very much. As a family, they enjoyed spending time and creating memories by taking simple mini-trips and even just eating out. He was thankful for the life he built,” it added.
Guintu is survived by his wife, Analiza, and two sons Andrei and Rev Gian. (Ritchel Mendiola/AJPress)
