Slain German hotel exec 'had 8 girlfriends'

MANILA, Philippines - Police will invite for questioning the eight reported girlfriends of a German hotel executive who was shot dead as he was walking to work in Makati City Thursday morning, an official said yesterday.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Roberto Rosales said initial investigation showed the girlfriends of Sergio Mazza, 38, could have had something to do with his death.

“We found out that the victim is maintaining eight girlfriends at the same time. That is why we are zeroing in on the love affair angle in our investigation of his killing,” Rosales in an interview.

He directed Makati City police chief Senior Superintendent Froilan Bonifacio to invite for investigation Mazza’s eight alleged girlfriends.

Makati City police investigators are digging deeper into the case while the NCRPO is assisting them, said Rosales.

Earlier, Bonifacio told The STAR that based on the accounts they have gathered, Mazza seemed to have multiple relationships with women.

“We’re zeroing on that. He had lots of women and the investigation boils down on his personal life involving these affairs,” Bonifacio said.

He, however, said they are still trying to corroborate witnesses’ accounts.

Mazza, assistant executive food and beverage manager of the Shangri-La Hotel, was shot in the face at close range by a gunman with a .22 caliber pistol at the corner of De la Rosa and Perea Streets at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

A witness said the gunman boarded a taxi where a woman was waiting for him, police said.

According to Bonifacio, Mazza’s co-workers at the hotel claimed that the victim was very warm and friendly and did not have any known enemies.

Police already ruled out robbery as the motive because Mazza’s belongings, including the P20,000 in his wallet and BlackBerry mobile phone, were untouched.

Rosales hopes the statements of Mazza’s girlfriends would help solve the case.

“We expect to make arrests in due time,” the NCRPO chief said.

Bonifacio said they are going through footage taken by closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in establishments near the crime scene.

“We will probably give you feedback” by noon today, he said.

Bonifacio said Mazza’s killer “could be a gun for hire because he knew what to do and knew there is a CCTV camera in the area… He even checked whether he had killed the victim before boarding the taxi.” – With Jose Rodel Clapano