HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man was charged in connection with using a machete to strike a woman in the head several times.
On Monday evening, police officers responded to a disturbance on Wendy Lane in Yigo to meet a woman who said her sister was injured, her sister’s vehicle was missing and another member of the household, John Anthony Rapolla Jr., 25, wasn’t at the home, a magistrate’s complaint filed in the Superior Court of Guam stated.
Earlier in the day, the woman came home and saw the car was missing and the front door was open. She went inside and saw blood in the victim’s room and heard the victim’s voice in the bathroom.
“When she saw the victim, she observed that the victim was bleeding from the head,” according to the complaint. The woman contacted 911.
The officer noticed the victim had four 6-inch-long lacerations to the top of her head and she was breathing but unresponsive to questions. The victim was taken to the hospital.
As of Thursday afternoon, the woman was still in the hospital, according to GPD’s acting spokesperson Sgt. Paul Tapao.
Officers conducting a scene check found “a large amount of blood on the floor and items scattered on the floor” in one of the rooms, along with blood smeared on the walls and floors.
A neighbor reported to officers earlier in the afternoon that he saw Rapolla and gave Rapolla a ride home.
The Guam Police Department announced in a press release on Wednesday that Rapolla was found in Asan Beach Park in a car that had license plates that belonged to the victim’s vehicle.
“The report indicates that (Rapolla) admitted to changing the license plates on the victim’s car with other license plates so the police couldn’t find him,” according to the complaint.
Rapolla was taken to GPD headquarters in Tiyan for questioning in relation to the investigation.
According to the complaint, Rapolla allegedly admitted to striking the victim’s head with the yellow and black machete multiple times.
“He also told officers that his intention was to ‘chop up,'” the victim and that he sharpened the machete prior to striking the victim, the complaint stated.
Rapolla also allegedly disposed of the machete and stated he attempted to burn the house down with the victim still inside. He added that he burned the clothes he was wearing during the time of the incident, according to the complaint.
Rapolla was charged with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault and family violence with special allegations of using a deadly weapon.
John Anthony Rapolla Jr.
