The bodies of David Fisk, 57, Lucita Cortez, 55, and her daughter-in-law Mary Jane Cortez, 30, were found by cleaners last Wednesday at the Lake Hotel in Tagaytay.
The bodies were bound hand and foot.
Surveillance cameras showed a man suspected of involvement in their deaths leaving the trio’s shared room and then returning.
He was wearing a mask, a hood, and carrying a shoulder bag.
Local officials confirmed that a man turned himself in to local police.
The breakthrough in the case came when the suspect was identified by at least three hotel employees based on his photo taken by surveillance cameras that showed part of his masked face, Tagaytay Police Chief Charles Davin Cabajcuan told The Associated Press.
Cabajcuan said the suspect’s identification eventually led authorities to Batangas province near Tagaytay, where he decided to surrender on Tuesday.
Tagaytay Mayor Abraham Tolentino and Cabajcuan presented the suspect, who was handcuffed and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses and a face mask, at a news conference. The man’s name has not been released.
The mayor reiterated his apologies to the victims’ families and to Australia for the “brutal crimes” that took place in his city.
“He wanted to take revenge on the hotel management for firing him,” Cabajquan told reporters, adding that the suspect worked as a pool cleaner at the hotel.
Cabajquan said officials plan to file criminal complaints for robbery in addition to murder against the suspect, who has apparently confessed to stealing David Fisk’s watch and shoes after attacking him with a knife and strangling the two women.
Fisk’s family, based in Sutherland, New South Wales, earlier issued a statement saying they were “praying for answers and the truth in this horrific matter”.
“The love we have for our father and Lucita is so precious, this situation is like living in a nightmare,” the family said.
They asked for their privacy to be respected.
It was learned that the Australian couple were on a trip abroad and were scheduled to return home on July 13.
With the Associated Press.
