TAGAYTAY, Philippines — The suspect in the murders of two Australians and their Filipina companion last week at a hotel in a popular tourist town south of the Philippine capital has surrendered, officials said Wednesday.
The victims, who were tied hand and foot, were found lying on the floor of a room at the Lake Hotel in Tagaytay City a week ago. Police at the time said it was a rare heinous crime in a tourist destination known primarily for a picturesque volcano located in the middle of a lake, abundant tropical fruits and the hospitality of its people.
Tagaytay Police Chief Charles Daven Capagcuan told The Associated Press that the breakthrough in the case came when the suspect was identified by at least three hotel employees based on his image captured by security cameras that showed a portion of his masked face.
The identification eventually led authorities to the suspect’s home province of Batangas, near Tagaytay, where he decided to turn himself in on Tuesday, Capagcuan said.
Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino and Capagcuan introduced the handcuffed suspect, wearing a hoodie, sunglasses and a mask, at a news conference. The man’s name was not announced.
The mayor reiterated his apologies to the families of the victims and to Australia for the “brutal crimes” that occurred in his city.
“He wanted to take revenge on the hotel management for his dismissal,” Capagcuan told reporters, adding that the suspect used to work as a pool cleaner at the hotel.
Authorities planned to file criminal complaints for robbery in addition to the murders against the suspect, who allegedly acknowledged taking the Australian victim’s watch and shoes after attacking him with a knife and choking his partner, a Filipino woman who had acquired citizenship. Australian. and her Filipino daughter-in-law, Capagcuan said.
The woman and her daughter-in-law will be buried in her family’s home province in the Philippines, while the Australian man’s remains were flown to Sydney on Tuesday, Tolentino said.
The Australian couple was supposed to fly back to Australia on July 10, the day they were killed, but decided to take a short vacation in Tagaytay, said the Filipino son of the slain Australian-Filipino woman. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of what happened to her mother and since the suspect was still at large at the time.
Tagaytay, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Manila, is popular with local and foreign tourists who flock there for its cool climate and to see one of the world’s smallest active volcanoes located in the middle of a lake.
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