Dutchman found dead in pension house room

CEBU, Philippines - A Dutch national was found dead yesterday morning inside a pension house along Gorordo Avenue in Barangay Kamputhaw, Cebu City.

Friedrich Meyer, 66, sustained a wound to the head with his mouth covered with cloth. He is said to have been staying in the pension house since December.

Senior Police Officer 2 Wetzel Berry, homicide investigator, said Me-yer’s dead body was discovered at around 8:50 a.m. yesterday when one of the staff of the pension house came to check on him after he had not been seen going out of his room.

Berry said the pension house staff checked on Meyer yesterday morning by knocking on his door. Meyer did not answer, prompting the pension house staff to open his room using the duplicate key.

It was discovered that Meyer was lying bloodied on the floor with a wound in his head and several bruises in his body. His mouth was also plugged with cloth. Berry said the victim’s room was in disarray suggesting possible struggle.

Berry said that the wound in the head may have been hit by a blunt object.

The police found a piece of wood and a stone at the crime scene, which could have been used in hitting the victim’s head. The items are now in the custody of the crime scene investigators for latent prints lifting. 

Berry said they could not conclude as of the moment whether Meyer committed suicide or somebody murdered him because the pension house did not have closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

The pension house staff also did not notice any suspicious actions from Meyer except that he allegedly likes to drink liquor.  (FREEMAN)