Chopped-up body of Chinese woman found in Manila, 4 suspects held in case of 'love triangle'

Four suspects, all Chinese, were arrested. No details were released about who they were or what they were doing in the Philippines. PHOTO: MAKATI POLICE DISTRICT

MANILA - Philippine police have recovered the chopped-up body of a Chinese woman in the financial district of Makati, south of the capital Manila, in what investigators suggest is a case of a romantic feud gone awry.

The woman was identified as Ms Wang Yalei, 26. Her remains were found stuffed inside four bags at the Lerato Residence Tower 1 late on Thursday (Nov 22) afternoon, in Makati's posh Bel-Air district.

Four suspects, all Chinese, were arrested. They were Zhang Chuning, Zhang Chuquan, Wang Xue and Zhang Xixi. Zhang Chuning confessed to killing Ms Wang, according to an initial police report.

No details were released about who the five Chinese were, or what they were doing in the Philippines.

"It was jealousy, a love triangle," said Metro Manila police chief Guillermo Eleazar.

Initial investigations showed Ms Wang had a heated argument with Zhang Chuning over a lover as the two were drinking early on Thursday morning. Ms Wang purportedly attacked Zhang with a knife, but Zhang managed to grab it and stab Ms Wang with it.

Zhang then asked the three other suspects to help her dismember and dispose of Ms Wang's body.

The condominium's security guards were tipped off that a crime may have happened when housekeeping staff found a nylon bag with a bloodied knife, clothes and tissue paper inside a rubbish bin.

A check with a closed-circuit TV camera found one of the suspects coming out of a unit on the 11th floor of the condominium with the nylon bag.

The guards then called the police.

"They have packed the bodies in four bags, and were trying to figure how to get them out, then we arrested them," said Mr Eleazar.

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