Woman falls from 25th-floor condo unit

A 23-year-old fiancée of an Australian businessman based in the Philippines reportedly fell from the 25th floor of their condominium unit in Malate, Manila yesterday afternoon.

The body of Lilibeth Estrella, a native of Batangas province, was retrieved at the stairway of the Anito Hotel, where she landed after her body crashed through the roof of the hotel. The hotel is adjacent to the Le Mirage Condominium, located at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Mabini street in Malate.

Police invited Estrella’s live-in partner, 45-year-old Australian Mark Darryl Ashe, to shed light on the alleged accident. Ashe, who was visibly shaken by the incident, initially refused to answer questions without his lawyers.

Ashe’s Filipino business partners also arrived at the police headquarters to assist their associate. They told the police that Ashe is a marketing director and immigration consultant of the Philippine-based JEJ International Manpower Services. He is also the president of the DA Management and Consultancy in Perth, Australia.

Initial reports said Ashe and Estrella had a bitter quarrel two days before the accident. In fact, Estrella refused to sleep in their bed Friday night, according to an investigator.

Shortly before lunch yesterday, the two had quarreled again. Ashe claimed he accompanied Estrella’s relatives, who were then making a cabinet at the couple’s rented unit, to eat at a food stall outside the condominium. When he returned, Estrella was not inside their unit and when he went to the terrace he saw the commotion below.

Police said Estrella could have jumped or was pushed by someone from the terrace of their 25th-floor unit and her body landed on the roof of the Anito Hotel below. She died instantly, according to investigators.