The Department of Public Security of Hunan Province has arrested a suspect in the murder of two women in a hotel room at MGM Cotai in Macau on 7 May.
The suspect, a 34-year-old native of Northeast China named Zhao, was detained on the morning of Tuesday 17 May – accused of strangling the women to death.
According to details released by authorities, Zhao had entered Macau on 29 April and moved around to various hotels in the Cotai area. The suspect was in a hotel room at MGM Cotai on 5 May and contacted a female money exchange gang member in the evening to exchange Hong Kong dollars in his room, before brutally killing her. He then took HK$600,000 in cash from the victim and went to the casino, where he lost the lot.
A few hours later, in the early hours of Friday 6 May, the suspect met a woman in the hotel lobby who is believed to have been a prostitute. He then took the woman to his room and killed her as well. The murder weapon was a bath towel.
The suspect stayed on the 9th floor of MGM Cotai although his room was not registered to the suspect but was instead either sold or given to him by another person.
After committing the second murder, he left Macau on the morning of 6 May and absconded to Hunan. On 7 May, staff at the hotel noticed an irregularity with the hotel room and contacted the registered guest to investigate and uncover the incident.
After receiving the report on 7 May, police quickly identified the suspect and notified Chinese public security authorities to assist in his arrest.
After investigation by the Macau police and mainland public security officials, the suspect was found to have fled to Tongwan Township, Hongjiang City. He was arrested on 17 May following a tip-off.
