Suspect homeless in Macau for a year, victim aged 45

A jobless Hong Kong man murdered a local prostitute in a guesthouse in the city centre last week because, he claims, she insulated him, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said in a special press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.

The 45-year-old victim was found dead in a guestroom of the three-star Pensão Residencial Flórida (known as “Fu Dou” – “rich metropolis” in Cantonese) inn with multiple unusual injuries on her head on Sunday (as reported by The Macau Post Daily on Monday and Tuesday), Chong said, adding that the 45-year-old male supect was arrested at 9 p.m. on that day at an activity centre in Zape.

The suspect who legally entered Macau last March is surnamed Ho, Chong said, adding that Ho told the police that he slept in the city’s public parks and abandoned shopping centres while staying in Macau.

The Judiciary Police were notified by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) and the Public Security Police (PSP) at 10:50 a.m. on Sunday that a dead woman, whose head was bleeding profusely, had been discovered lying in the guestroom’s bathroom.

A forensic examination confirmed that the victim’s skull was “seriously fractured”, with an open wound of 15 centimetres, which was believed to have been caused by a hard object, resulting in intracranial injury and death, Chong said, adding that the Judiciary Police believe that the victim was slain in the bathroom, where blood splatter was discovered on the wall.

According to Chong, no implements that could have been used in the murder were found on the scene, which had been cleaned after the murder.

After scrutinising the guesthouse’s CCTV footage, Chong said, the Judiciary Police confirmed that the victim reserved a room in the guesthouse in mid-February, providing massage and sexual services there.

Chong added that PJ officers later confirmed that Ho carrying a small bag entered the victim’s guestroom at 9 p.m. on Friday and left about 30 minutes later with his bag and a suitcase belonging to the victim, with what appeared to be a pillow in the slightly open suitcase.

Chong noted that the pillow was recovered under a pile of objects at a residential building on Rotunda de Carlos da Maia (colloquially known as “Three Lamps” area).

After the murder, according to Chong, Ho wandered around the city and entered nine different buildings, attempting to hide evidence and evade the police investigation.

Under questioning, Ho admitted to committing the crime, insisting that as the victim insulted him while she was providing “sexual services”, he got angry and then randomly picked up a hard object and hit her on the head, “deliberately” killing her. Ho denied that the murder was pre-planned, Chong said.

Chong pointed out that PJ officers discovered that after killing the woman, Ho took the victim’s mobile phone, cleaned up the crime scene, and wandered around in various districts to avoid being traced, indicating that the murder was not a “spur-of-the-moment” crime as claimed by Ho.

Ho was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of aggravated murder and theft, according to Chong.

The Judiciary Police are continuing to investigate the use of the pillow Ho hid in a residential building, and what object he used to kill the victim.

Chong did not reveal any details of the family backgrounds of the neither the victim nor the suspect, neither did he disclose why Ho stayed as a homeless person in Macau for about a year.

According to the Macau Penal Code, Ho faces between 15 and 25 years behind bars.

The hotel murder is Macau’s first homicide reported by the police this year.

Last year, the police reported a double homicide, i.e., a case involving two murders.

Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded murder suspect from Hong Kong to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photos: Yuki Lei

Four photos provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) showing evidence seized from the suspect such as a pillow and a T shirt are displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape.