🔪 THE BLOOD CURSE OF SAN LEONARDO: INCEST, INSULTS, AND THE SHATTERED SOUL OF JESSIE TESORO! SIX FAMILY MEMBERS MASSACRED OVER A “FORBIDDEN RELATIONSHIP”! 💔
THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN: HOW LOVE BECAME A MACHETE
In 2018, the quiet town of San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, was shattered by a crime so visceral and disturbing that its details defy comprehension: six members of the Caballero family were slaughtered in their sleep. The motive, an investigation revealed, was not drugs, debt, or rivalry, but something far more intimate and explosive: a forbidden, incestuous relationship between cousin and cousin, fueled by mounting financial stress and the deadly accumulation of bitter, repeated insults.
This is the chilling saga of Jessie Tesoro, a man described as “kind and quiet” who, when pushed to the absolute breaking point, became a savage, unforgiving killer. His journey from estranged relative to accepted family member to mass murderer serves as a terrifying warning: unhealed emotional wounds can turn a seemingly harmless person into a catastrophic force.
A TRAGIC UNION: JENNIFER AND JESSIE
The tragedy began two years before the massacre in Tarlac, when Jessie Tesoro, 33, arrived at the Caballero home seeking long-lost relatives. He soon discovered that the matriarch, Leonila Caballero, 48, was his aunt. Jessie was welcomed into the home, quickly becoming a fixture among his cousins.
However, a dangerous attraction blossomed between Jessie and his cousin, Jennifer, 30, who was estranged from her incarcerated husband and financially dependent on an older, foreign boyfriend. Despite their familial bond and Jennifer’s existing relationship, the two grew closer, searching for comfort and attention they lacked elsewhere.
The relationship eventually became physical, tearing the family apart. Leonila and her children pleaded with Jennifer to stop the relationship—a union wrong in the eyes of family and society. Jennifer, however, defied them all, choosing the “beat of her heart over the advice of her mother and siblings.” The family eventually conceded, allowing Jessie to move in, attempting to normalize the abnormal under one roof.
For two years, they lived a strained existence, but the underlying tensions never vanished.
THE MOVE TO NUEVA ECIJA: A PACT WITH FATE
In April 2018, the family moved to San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, seeking a new start far from the gossip of Tarlac. The household included Leonila, her children Jennifer, Serio, Analyn (and her live-in partner Sonny Custodio, and their one-year-old child), Emmy, and Joshua, along with Jennifer’s four-year-old child—and, critically, Jessie Tesoro.
Jessie initially found work at a resort, but was soon hired by Jennifer’s older sister Jenny to clean and care for a calamansi farm nearby. All seemed normal, but just two weeks after the move, the slow-burning tension reached its catastrophic climax.
THE NIGHT OF THE BLADES: 4:00 AM MASSACRE
In the early morning hours of April 22, 2018, the trigger was pulled. Jessie, Jennifer, Serio, and Sonny had been drinking. When Jennifer demanded money and Jessie had none, she exploded, unleashing a torrent of “masasakit na salita” (painful, harsh words) and insults.
The argument escalated until the matriarch, Leonila, intervened, telling Jessie to leave, suggesting Jennifer’s incarcerated husband would soon be released, and demanding they break up. This was the final straw. “It was here that his ears were further stung, and he absolutely hated that they were trying to separate them.”
Jessie left the house, retrieved a machete from the farm, and waited for everyone to fall asleep.
At approximately 4:00 AM, the slaughter began:
Jennifer: He first entered Jennifer’s room and, as she slept, delivered a powerful machete blow to her neck, killing her instantly.
Leonila & Serio: He moved to Leonila’s room, striking the mother and then Serio, who woke up but could not escape.
Emmy: Twelve-year-old Emmy woke from the chaos and tried to run, but was intercepted and killed near the door.
Analyn & Sonny: He crossed to the other room, repeatedly striking Analyn and Sonny until they were unconscious.
Joshua: The ten-year-old Joshua woke up in the next room and was also brutally murdered.
In a moment of terrifying, calculating composure, Jessie then took a shower in the family bathroom and changed his clothes before creeping out of the house.
THE MIRACLE SURVIVOR AND THE TWO INNOCENTS
Bleeding profusely, Analyn miraculously regained consciousness after the killer left. Covered in deep wounds to her head, neck, and face, and with three fingers severed, she managed to crawl to a neighbor’s house for help. Before collapsing, her one word was the name the police desperately needed: “Jessie.”
The police found a horrific scene—six bodies butchered, the walls and floors drenched in blood. However, two true miracles were found: Jennifer’s four-year-old child and Analyn’s one-year-old child were found unharmed, sleeping soundly beside the corpses. They were covered in blood, but alive.
THE CONFESSION: “I WAS TIRED OF THE INSULTS”
Police quickly identified Jessie Tesoro through neighborhood tips, CCTV footage, and an anonymous tip from a volunteer who heard Jessie casually confess that he had killed someone and would be on the news. Jessie was arrested, and in custody, he required no coercion: he immediately confessed to the entire crime.
His motive was clear: The deadly, repeated “pangmamaliit” (belittling) and insults, especially when he couldn’t provide money, drove him mad.
“I was being insulted by my wife… my mother-in-law told me to leave and break up with Jennifer because her husband would be released soon,” he stated.
But the final, crushing twist of fate emerged from the autopsy report: Jennifer was pregnant with Jessie’s child. This revelation of fathering a child he would never see—with the woman he had just murdered—compounded his guilt and shattered his conscience.
Just three months after his extrajudicial confession, the court handed down the sentence: Guilty of Multiple Murder and Frustrated Murder, with a penalty of life imprisonment. The massacre of the Caballero family stands as a permanent, chilling testament to how the sharp blade of contempt and the weight of unrequited loyalty can culminate in an unforgivable act of familial destruction.
