Broker beaten to death in hotel room

MANILA, Philippines - A 69-year-old real estate broker was killed in his hotel room in Mandaluyong City Monday.

Mandaluyong City police chief Senior Superintendent Armando Bolalin said they have a copy of footage taken by a closed-circuit television camera that documented Don Relova checking in with a woman at the Sogo Hotel in Barangay Kalentong at about 4:49 p.m. Monday.

“We will show the video footage with the victim’s family to determine whether they knew her. As of now, we could not say that the woman is a suspect because we have no evidence against her as yet,” Bolalin said in an interview.

Senior Police Officer 1 Disilito Custodio said the body of Relova, clad only in underwear, was found on the bed at about 10 p.m. Monday.

Custodio said a pillow and a bath towel covered the victim’s face while his head appeared to have been beaten in by a hard object. Blood stained the bedsheets.

Bolalin said rat poison was found in the victim’s mouth. An empty sachet of rat poison was recovered in the bathroom while a handwritten note, in which the victim was described as a “bad” man, was found on his body.

“We are still investigating the case. We have not determined as yet the motive of the incident,” said Bolalin, noting that no hard object was recovered inside the hotel.

He said hotel supervisor James Fronda and other employees discovered Relova’s body when they came to check his room as his six hours at the hotel were almost up.

Relatives of the victim claimed several pieces of jewelry, a Nokia cell phone, keys, a wallet containing identification cards and an undetermined amount of money were missing.