XPost: alt.politics.clinton, alt.politics.liberalism, can.politics
XPost: alt.sex.prostitution, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
In article <uhucnr$1p9rf$
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A Little Canada man was charged Monday with strangling a woman who
was working as a prostitute in an Eagan hotel room this month,
prosecutors say.
Philip Jedidiah Wong, 25, admitted to police he paid the woman for
sex Oct. 12 but said he didn’t learn she was dead until someone from
her “organization” called and told him, according to the criminal
complaint charging him with second-degree murder and first-degree
manslaughter.
Wong said he did not believe she was dead and thought it was a scam
and they were trying to get more money from him, the complaint says.
However, Wong’s roommate told investigators he said he “choked her
out” after she tried to blackmail him.
According to Eagan police and the complaint:
The woman, identified as 53-year-old Jianqin Zhang, was discovered
dead Oct. 12 by a housekeeper and Zhang’s friend at Microtel Inn &
Suites, east of Interstate 35E and west of Lexington Avenue.
The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office found hemorrhaging on
Zhang’s neck, along with petechiae — small spots caused by burst
blood vessels — on her eyes, mouth, lips and scalp. A toxicology
report did not detect the presence of controlled substances.
A friend told police that Zhang was a sex worker and that she
checked on her because the “organization” had not heard from her for
a while after meeting with a client. The friend gave police a phone
number of the client, later identified as Wong.
Video surveillance from the hotel shows Wong entering the hotel
around 2:54 p.m. wearing an Atlanta Falcons hat, and leaving the
hotel about an hour later.
Zhang was the only registered guest of the room, which she had
reserved from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14. After a search warrant was
executed on the room, police found several cellphones, used and
unused condoms, a locked wallet, a SIM card taped to a white card,
bloody sheets, pill bottles, food, clothing and an Atlanta Falcons
hat.
One of the phones belonged to Zhang, and an examination showed a
message was sent to the “organization” at 3:39 p.m. in Mandarin.
When translated in English, the message said, “walk.” She stopped
answering her phone around 3:45 p.m.
Police searched Wong’s apartment and found clothing that appeared to
match those he was seen wearing on video surveillance. His cell
phone was also seized.
Wong gave police a statement, saying he responded to an online ad
for a massage and cuddle. He said he met Zhang in her room, paying
her $200 for a massage, then another $50 for sex. He said he took a
shower before leaving. He realized on his way home that he forgot
his hat, but did not go back for it.
In her interview with police, Wong’s roommate said he told her Zhang
said she had a hidden camera in the room and wanted more money from
him. “In response, (Wong) ‘choked her out,’ but he believed she was
still breathing,” the complaint states. “(Wong) then searched the
room for the hidden camera, and left when (the victim’s) phone
rang.”
Wong also wrote his roommate two notes. In the first one, he asked
her to forgive him and said he doesn’t know what the “future holds
for him or how long the trial will be,” the complaint says. “In the
second note Wong asked (his roommate) to meet him one last time, or
to at least call him.”
On Thursday, in a follow-up interview with police, Wong said he
didn’t have anything to add from his earlier statement. He was
arrested and booked into the Dakota County jail.
Police learned Wong had met with several family members at his
parents’ home eight days after the murder. A family member told an investigator Friday that Wong said he probably would be arrested
soon and he was not sure if it would be voluntary or involuntary
manslaughter. “(Wong) told his family members he was with someone
and there was an altercation; however, when he left she was alive,”
the complaint says.
Wong made an initial appearance on the charges Monday. He remained
jailed Monday in lieu of $750,000 bail ahead of his next court
hearing scheduled for Nov. 9.
His attorney, when reached by phone Monday, declined to comment on
the case.
Minnesota court records show only two petty misdemeanor driving
offenses against Wong.
https://www.twincities.com/2023/10/30/eagan-hotel-murder-charges- little-canada-man-killed-worker/
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