In the quiet, picturesque city of Baguio, the Wagayen family lived a comfortable life. Rodrigo and Jennifer were successful business owners, raising two children, 20-year-old Roger and 15-year-old Allery. Like many busy Filipino families, a domestic helper, or kasambahay, was an essential part of their household. But their search for a new helper in May 2016 would lead them to make a fateful decision, inviting a ruthless predator into their home who would shatter their world forever.

After their long-time helper left, the family struggled to manage their businesses and household. On May 22, 2016, a 42-year-old woman named Marites Judan responded to a “Wanted” sign Jennifer had posted. She seemed capable and came with her application documents ready. There was just one red flag: she was missing a police clearance, which she claimed to have left behind in her home province. Needing the help desperately, Jennifer made a tragic exception and hired her on the spot.

For two days, everything seemed normal. Marites cleaned the house and cooked for the family. On the morning of May 24, Jennifer and Rodrigo left for work, leaving their daughter Allery alone in the house with the new maid. Around 10:00 AM, the son, Roger, returned home from a delivery. Marites met him at the door with a clever ruse, pleading with him to immediately leave again to deliver some plates to his mother at the market. Midway through the trip, Marites asked to be dropped off, claiming she would take a jeep. It was the last they would ever see of her.

When Roger returned home, he heard a faucet running. He called out to his sister to turn it off, but there was no reply. As he walked towards the bathroom, he saw horrifying bloodstains on the floor. He pushed the door open and was met with the grisly sight of his younger sister’s lifeless body. She had been brutally stabbed more than ten times.

In the aftermath, the family realized that cash, gadgets, and jewelry were also missing. With no signs of forced entry, the horrifying truth was undeniable: the person they had trusted with their home and their child was a killer.

The Baguio City Police immediately launched an investigation, and the horrifying truth about Marites Judan’s past quickly came to light. She was not just a simple house helper; she was a hardened, professional criminal. She had an outstanding warrant for a previous homicide with robbery case in Baguio and was wanted for other robberies and thefts in La Union and Ilocos Sur. She was a cunning predator who used multiple aliases to evade capture, and her modus operandi was to pose as a domestic helper to gain access to the homes of wealthy families.

The police theorized that Allery had tragically caught Marites in the act of robbing their home, and Marites killed the 15-year-old to eliminate the only witness. Now dubbed the “Killer Maid of Baguio,” Marites was declared the city’s number one most-wanted person. Despite a ₱100,000 reward offered by the Wagayen family, she remained at large for nearly three years, continuing her crime spree across Luzon and stealing an estimated ₱1.9 million from other unsuspecting families.

Finally, on February 6, 2019, Marites Judan and her live-in partner were arrested at their hideout in Pangasinan. Her reign of terror was over. The case stands as a devastating cautionary tale about the ultimate betrayal of trust. The Wagayen family was left consumed by grief and guilt, with Jennifer publicly asking for her daughter’s forgiveness for letting a monster into their lives. Their tragic story serves as a grim reminder of the importance of vigilance and the horrifying reality that sometimes, the greatest danger is the one you willingly invite into your own home.