Cops hope CCTV footage will lead to tourist’s killer

COMPUTER-generated image of one of three robbers who killed a French man. Contributed photo

Police investigators are studying the footage taken by a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera of the three suspects who robbed and killed a French tourist in front of a Pasay hotel in the hopes that it would help in the immediate resolution of the case.

“We have some leads about the identity of one of the three suspects but we can’t reveal it yet,” said Chief Supt. Jose Erwin Villacorte, Southern Police District (SPD) director.

French tourist Pierre Paul Franz Hofman, 68, was shot dead when he refused to give his bag to robbers on the morning of March 8, right in front of Heritage Hotel at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and Edsa.

The French national and his two companions were waiting for a taxi on Edsa to take them to a bus terminal when they were approached by three men on a motorcycle.

The Pasay police on Saturday released a computer-generated image of one of the  three suspects  based on the description given by a witness and the images taken by a CCTV camera at the hotel.

The witness and one of the victim’s companions described the robber as between 5’5” and 5’57” in height and of medium build.

The area’s precinct commander, Insp. Jolly Soriano, remained in his post after Villacorte asked National Capital Regional Police Office chief Director Leonardo Espina to give him a chance to “redeem himself” by working on the case.