The Judiciary Police (PJ) has arrested a man from the Chinese mainland for illegal weapon possession and the attempted murder of his girlfriend on Wednesday, PJ spokesman Chao Teng Hin said during a special press conference held at PJ headquarters in Zape today.
Chao identified the suspect as a 41-year-old businessman surnamed Chen, and described the victim as a middle-aged mainland woman.
According to PJ spokesman Leong Kuok Hei, the incident occurred at around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, when the Judiciary Police were notified by the Public Security Police (PSP) that a knife attack had taken place outside a hotel in Cotai.
A female victim suffering multiple injuries to her face and neck was found at the scene and immediately taken to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre (CHCSJ) for emergency treatment, Leong said, adding that the male suspect was subdued on the spot by hotel security staff.
PJ officers arrived at the scene, arrested the suspect, and carried out forensic investigations and evidence-gathering, according to Leong.
The incident took place in the driveway in front of the hotel, where the victim was attacked inside a black seven-seater vehicle. Bloodstains were found on the left side of the second-row passenger seats, alongside two cutters and a table knife. Another table knife and a mobile phone were recovered from the ground outside the vehicle. All the knives were stained with blood.
Leong said that the investigation revealed four people were inside the vehicle at the time of the incident: the driver, two mainland women, and the victim. One of the women had, at the victim's request, been privately selling hotel room reward points and had agreed to meet the victim outside the hotel to complete the transaction. Upon arrival, they parked the vehicle in front of the hotel, and the victim boarded the car alone.
Chen, who had been tailing the vehicle, suddenly forced his way inside and, armed with sharp weapons, repeatedly attacked the victim's head and neck.
The victim screamed for help, prompting the other passengers to flee the vehicle and call for assistance from hotel security staff, Leong said. Security personnel arrived within seconds and subdued the suspect.
The investigation also confirmed that the victim and Chen had met in Macau in May last year and began a romantic relationship two months later.
However, by July this year, the victim had begun distancing herself from the suspect. A few days before the incident, the suspect saw the victim socialising with various male companions and believed she was deceiving him emotionally. Chen also felt aggrieved over the substantial amount of money he had spent on her during their relationship.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chen travelled to a shop in Taipa, where he purchased two cutters. Later, according to Leong, he took a table knife and fork from his hotel room, intending to kill the victim. At 8:50 p.m. that evening, the suspect spotted the victim with a male friend outside the hotel. As she boarded the seven-seater vehicle, Chen seized the opportunity to rush inside and launched a frenzied attack on her head, neck, and face. He did not stop until hotel security subdued him.
According to the medical report, Leong said the victim suffered multiple severe lacerations to the left side and back of her neck, her lower lip, lower jaw, and right hand, with some wounds measuring between 10 and 20 cm in length. The injuries were consistent with those caused by sharp weapons and resulted in haemorrhagic shock. Following surgery, the victim is in a stable condition but remains unconscious under sedation. At the time of the press conference, the Judiciary Police had not yet been able to interview her.
Chen was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) this afternoon, facing charges of attempted murder and illegal weapon possession.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded suspect from the Chinese mainland, surnamed Chen, who is suspected of attempted murder and illegal weapon possession, to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape today. Photos: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
Two blood-stained items of clothing, three cutters, two cutter blades, a table knife, and a table fork are on display at PJ headquarters in Zape.
