The suspect in the killing of an Australian couple and a Filipino woman at a hotel in Tagaytay City voluntarily surrendered to authorities last Wednesday. He did it, he said, in retaliation after the hotel fired him.
In a report of Lt. Col. Charles Daven Capagcuan, chief of police at the Tagaytay Component City Police Station, the suspect, identified as “Ronel,” a 33-year-old male from Amadeo, Cavite.
Victims were identified as Australian citizens David Fisk, and Lucita Cortez, Cortez’s daughter-in-law, Mary Jane Cortez.
In a statement, the suspect said he barged into the victims’ room through an open window and killed the victims whose hands and feet were tied and sprawled on the floor. He admitted taking the watch of the Australian male victim after attacking him with a knife while suffocating his Filipina partner.
He surrendered to Mayor Jey Cerrado of Tuy, Batangas, where he hid after the killing. He was then turned over to Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino who surrendered him to authorities.
“We are pleased to present to you the main suspect in this brutal crime and as promised that within a week, we will resolve and give justice,” Tolentino said.
The mayor expressed his sincere apologies to the families of victims and to Australia.
