Cops clueless on couple’s deaths in hotel room

Police remained stumped Thursday over the mysterious shooting of a 25-year-old man and his Korean girlfriend inside a hotel room in Manila.

Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section head Inspector Armando Macaraeg told the Inquirer that although they are inclined to rule out a third-party involvement in the deaths of Emmanuel Andrew Rey Agudo, of Nagcarlan, Laguna, and 23-year-old Korean Kim Nim Jung, they have not found an explanation for the multiple bullet wounds on the bodies.

Macaraeg pointed out that they have also not determined why the door of the hotel room was locked from the inside and where the assailant could have exited if a third party had been involved.

He revealed that based on statements from the families, the two had been a couple for two years after they met as medical technology students at a university in Manila.

The bodies were discovered by hotel personnel at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, more than two hours after the couple were supposed to check out of the room after a 24-hour stay.

Police said that based on an initial investigation, Agudo and Kim were found naked on the bed, both dead from bullet wounds in the head and body.

Police investigators recovered a .25-caliber automatic pistol beside Agudo’s body and five fired cartridge cases on the floor. Macaraeg pointed out that the gun belonged to Agudo based on firearm documents retrieved from his belongings.

“The room was not in disarray and the couple’s belongings were intact,” Macaraeg said, adding that the absence of a means to leave the room other than the door, which had been locked from the inside, discounted the possibility of a third-party involvement.

But Macaraeg stressed that the number of bullet wounds in each of the bodies suggested foul play.—With Monalisa Chuang