A Taiwanese man was arrested by Philippine police over the death of a Philippine transgender person whose body was found stuffed into luggage.
The suspect, 25, identified only by his surname Tsai (蔡), is suspected of having murdered his cohabitant, Robert William Reilly, and was detained in Pasay, Metro Manila, local police said on Sunday.
Closed-circuit television footage shows Tsai and his victim apparently quarreling as they entered their residential building late on Friday night.
It also shows Tsai dragging luggage out of the building in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
Tsai was arrested when he returned home at about noon that day and revealed the location of Reilly’s body, they said.
Tsai said Reilly had constantly demanded money and even extorted money from him on the night of the murder, police said.
Tsai said he killed Reilly in self-defense, police said.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines has been informed and is looking into the case.
It is the second murder case this year involving a Taiwanese national in the Philippines.
In February, a 46-year-old Taiwanese man, surnamed Kuo (郭), was suspected of killing his Filipina wife and dismembering her body.
In other news, the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday reported that a Taiwanese man was killed when he and his wife returned to their home in the northern Philippines on Saturday.
The 60-year-old businessman, identified as Pai Chi Fu in the report, was allegedly stabbed to death by a 15-year-old boy in his home in Rizal, Nueva Ecija Province, as he tried to defend his 58-year-old wife, who was also stabbed and taken to hospital.
TECO said it would send staff to Rizal to investigate and offer any necessary assistance.
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