The Judiciary Police (PJ) have arrested a mainland Chinese man for illegal weapon possession and the attempted murder of his girlfriend, PJ spokesman Chao Teng Hin said during a special press conference held at PJ headquarters in Zape on Friday.
He was remanded in custody on Saturday.
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 box cutters and a table fork. A table knife and a mobile phone were recovered from the ground outside the vehicle. All the weapons 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 box cutters. Later, according to Leong, he took a 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 launch a frenzied attack on her head, neck, and face. He did not stop until hotel security subdued him.
According to evidence presented at the press conference, the table knife was deformed from a heavy blow.
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 was in a stable condition but remains unconscious under sedation, according to Leong. 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) Friday afternoon, facing charges of attempted murder and illegal weapon possession.
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutions Office announced in a statement on Saturday that the suspect has been detained pending trial.
The statement noted that, following a hearing at the Criminal Preliminary Investigation Court of the Primary Court (TJB), the court found strong indications that the suspect had committed the offence of attempted homicide, punishable under Article 128 of Macau’s Penal Code. Taking into account the nature and seriousness of the crime, the manner in which it was carried out, the motive, and the need to prevent the suspect from fleeing Macau, among other factors, the statement said, the Criminal Investigation Court, having adopted the recommendation of the Public Prosecutions Office, had decided to impose the coercive measure of pre-trial detention on the suspect.
According to Article 128 of the Penal Code, anyone who kills another person faces a prison term of 10 to 20 years. However, according to Article 22, an attempt is punishable with the penalty applicable to the completed crime, with a special reduction.
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 on Friday.
Two blood-stained items of clothing, two box cutters, three cutter blades, a knife deformed by a heavy blow, and a fork are on display at PJ headquarters in Zape on Friday. – Photos: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
