A 40-year-old mainland Chinese man was murdered in a hotel room at Wynn Palace on Wednesday in a case police say is related to Macau’s money exchange gangs.
According to information provided to the media on Thursday afternoon, the murder took place at around 4pm on Wednesday with the suspect alleged to have robbed the victim of more than HK$2.5 million (US$321,000). The two men were known to each and other and both members of a gang.
The victim was discovered after a family member who was unable to reach him contacted hotel security, with guards finding the body in the bathroom of his hotel room.
After receiving a report, police launched an investigation and found that the victim had a 20-centimeter-long knife wound on his neck, with traces of an attempted cleanup at the scene of the crime. A mainland man and Hong Kong woman were arrested a short time later.
The mainland man, surnamed Yang and also aged around 40, is suspected to be the murderer, while the woman, surnamed Tang and aged 48, is suspected to have remitted the money to the mainland.
The Macau Judiciary Police revealed that the victim had won around HK$2.5 million at a casino on the morning of the crime, with robbery believed to be the suspect’s motive.
After committing the crime, the suspect gave the cash to the Hong Kong woman, who assisted him in remitting it to a mainland bank account using other money exchange gangs.
The police noted that the suspect changed his clothes twice after he killed the victim, and was eventually found and arrested at a supermarket in Taipa three hours after the case was reported to the police.
Police added that he was uncooperative after his arrest but said there was enough evidence to show that he had killed the victim as he had entered and left the victim’s room twice on the day of the crime.
Authorities have so far recovered about HK$1.7 million in cash.
The suspect has been charged with aggravated homicide and robbery, while the Hong Kong woman is charged with money laundering.
