The Korean man who was found unconscious beside the lifeless body of a Filipina in a hotel room in Lapu-Lapu City was formally charged with murder before the prosecutor’s office.
The complaint against Hyun Chul Hwang was filed on Tuesday.
Hyun was found unconscious inside a hotel room last Saturday. Beside him was the body of Whenvy Jean Noel of barangay Kalawisan, Lapu-Lapu.
According to the autopsy report, the cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation.
The woman bore bruises in different parts of the body.
There were no indications that the woman was raped based on the autopsy.
Footage from a security camera showed that the Korean and the woman arrived at Hotel Francisco in barangay Basak on Friday night.
The two stayed at unit number 23.
Based on the video, the woman was not forced to go with the Korean, police said.
Hotel management called the police the next day when the two guests did not answer the door despite repeated attempts to call their attention.
A staffer had gone to the room to inform the guests that they were scheduled to check out.
Police forcibly opened the door and found the two on top of a bed.
The Korean is still comatose in a private hospital in Cebu City.
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, chief of the Lapu-Lapu police, said Noel’s parents visited his office and insisted that the Korean and the woman were not lovers.
The parents said the two met in a bar where the woman was a singer for a band.
The parents said the Korean tried to convince the woman to be his partner in a cellphone business that he planned to put up.