Sex worker found dead in hotel room; killer escapes

MANILA, Philippines – A woman believed to be a sex worker was found dead in a Quezon City hotel early Saturday morning, after her client and suspected killer managed to elude hotel employees by jumping out of a fire escape during a chase on the establishment’s second floor, police said.

Case investigator Senior Police Officer 1 Cristituto Zaldarriaga said the unidentified woman did not have any cellphone or IDs with her when she was found, sprawled and bloodied in the bathroom of one of the rooms in the hotel on Aurora Avenue in the Cubao area.

The victim had contusions on the forehead and was apparently strangled with a bath towel.

Zaldarriaga said she was 20 to 30 years old, 4’ 11’’ tall, and was clad in an orange shirt and jeans.

The woman was believed to be a sex worker picked up by one Musashi Lucman in the vicinity of Aurora Boulevard and Stanford Street in Barangay (village) Socorro.

Lucman’s companion, Mohammad Mindalano, said he and the suspect each hired a woman to check in with them at the hotel around 3 a.m. The two couples took adjacent rooms.

At around 4 a.m., Mindalano’s partner left.

According to Zaldarriaga, Mindalano claimed hearing shouts and a loud thud coming from the other couple’s room around 6 a.m. He did not mind it at first although he reported it to the security officer, Bonifacio Jimenez, some 30 minutes later.

Jimenez then decided to check out the report and found Lucman, sweaty and fidgety, standing outside the room, Zaldarriaga said.

The security officer told Lucman to stay put as he called for the housekeeper, but Lucman ran away. Employees tried to block him on the second floor, grabbing him by the arm at one point, but Lucman managed to break loose and jumped out through a fire exit, Zaldarriaga said.

The hotel employees then went back to the room, forced the locked door open, and found the woman sprawled in the bathroom.

Zaldarriaga said the suspect left behind his rubber shoes, fleeing with the hotel slippers. The suspect left behind a sling bag containing a sachet filled with what appeared to be marijuana leaves.