The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a social worker from the Chinese mainland for fatally stabbing her female friend more than 30 times over a relationship issue on Thursday, PJ spokesmen Cheong Kim Fong and Leong Kuok Hei said during a special press conference on Saturday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 33-year-old woman surnamed Miao who told police that she is a social worker, adding that the victim had worked in the local education sector.
According to Leong, on Thursday afternoon a staff member of a hotel in Cotai responded to a request for help from Miao. The employee found Miao and the female victim lying in a pool of blood in the hotel guestroom. The Fire Services Bureau (CB) arrived at the scene and rushed both women to the hospital, Leong said.
According to Leong, the victim, having sustained multiple stab wounds on the right side on the back of her head, neck and the left side of her chest with over 30 penetrating injuries, was pronounced dead after resuscitation failed. Miao sustained minor cuts to the hands and body. She was discharged from hospital following medical treatment, Leong said. She was picked up for questioning by the police when leaving the hospital.
According to Leong, an investigation revealed that Miao had been friends with the victim since their high school days. Miao, Leong said, carried a 10-centimetre-long knife in her backpack when arriving in Macau from the Chinese mainland on Wednesday afternoon.
After checking into the hotel, according to Leong, Miao went to a shopping mall in the peninsula’s central district and purchased an additional 16-centimetre-long knife and a 16-centimetre cleaver.
At around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, the victim arrived at the hotel to meet the suspect, and the two entered the room together. Only 20 minutes later, Miao called the hotel reception for help, Leong said.
According to Leong, PJ officers discovered clear signs of a struggle at the scene, with multiple bloodstains on the floor and walls.
PJ officers seized two bloodstained knives, measuring 10 cm and 16 cm respectively, and found an unused 16-centimetre-long cleaver in the suspect’s backpack, Leong said, adding that the three pieces of kitchen cutlery fall under the legal category of prohibited weapons.
According to Leong, based on the evidence collected from the crime scene, investigative findings, and the forensic medical report, the Judiciary Police have determined there is strong evidence indicating that the suspect’s premeditated attack was due to relationship issues.
Miao was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Saturday, facing charges of aggravated murder and possession of a prohibited weapon.
According to Article 129, the suspect faces a prison term of between 15 and 25 years for aggravated homicide.
Life imprisonment, indefinite detention and capital punishment are illegal in Macau. In exceptional circumstances, the maximum prison term amounts to 30 years.
Two bloodstained knives seized from the murder scene and a cleaver seized from the suspect’s backpack are displayed during a special press conference on Saturday about Thursday’s homicide by stabbing of a woman by her female friend in a hotel guestroom in Cotai. – Photo: Armindo Neves
