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Swiss dies in second Philippines incident

Caroline Bishop
Caroline Bishop - [email protected]
Swiss dies in second Philippines incident
Near Surigao City. Photo: Nicolas S Tello/Wikimedia Commons

A 22-year-old man from Geneva has been killed in the Philippines, just days after two other Swiss men were shot dead in the country.

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Police found the Geneva man on Tuesday in Surigao City on the island of Mindanao, reported Swiss daily 20 Minuten on Friday.

According to a report in Filipino website GMA News, the victim’s body had stab wounds, head injuries and signs of strangulation.

Police in the Philippines are seeking a man who checked into his hotel under the name ‘John Lennon’ and was seen with the victim the evening prior to his death, reports 20 Minuten.

Speaking with friends of the victim on the internet after his death, ‘John Lennon’ said that the previous evening the pair had been threatened with a gun by two individuals who demanded money.

“In the discussion he claimed he started to run in one direction while the victim chose another,” police chief Ruben Delos Santos told 20 Minuten.

The man claims not to have seen the victim again.

Police are questioning his version of events, however.

“[The victim] has stab wounds not gunshot wounds,” said Delos Santos, “And neither his wallet not his jewellery had been stolen.”

According to the police chief ‘John Lennon’ entered a McDonald’s restaurant not long after the pair were allegedly threatened.

“Just 200 metres from there is a police station, but the young man never went there,” he said.

Police are now seeking the man, who was in contact with his girlfriend after the event and left the island by boat.

Despite not knowing his real name or nationality, police have “good photos and video footage of him” said the chief.

“We suspect him of having something to do with the death of [the victim].”

The killing comes just a few days after two other Swiss men, 67-year-old Robert Erich Loever and 78-year-old Baltazar Johann Erni, were shot dead at a southern Philippine beach resort last Sunday.

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