Philippines: The murder of Australian businessman William Luttrell in 1994; the investigation; whether anyone has been charged or convicted (January 1994 - May 2001)

A 30 October 1994 South China Morning Post article states:

TWO expatriates in Hongkong are wanted for questioning by Philippines police over the gangland-style slaying of their business associate in Manila on October 21.

William ''Bill'' Luttrell, 51, was killed with one shot to the back of his head by two men posing as journalists in the coffee-shop of the Gateway Hotel, which he owned, in the Manila suburb of Malate. Australian national and sometime Hong Kong resident, Luttrell also had a significant interest in the $35-million Friday's Resort on the Philippine island of Boracay - a popular weekend getaway for Hong Kong residents.

Police believe the killing was connected to a long-running dispute between Luttrell and his two Australian associates over ownership of the resort. Manila Western Police District homicide division leader Senior Inspector Pedro Angelo said yesterday he wanted to interview the men and had sought assistance from Hong Kong police.

But enquiries by the Sunday Morning Post last week revealed the pair left Hong Kong for Australia immediately after Luttrell's murder, one to Melbourne and one to Brisbane. Neither could be contacted. Australian Federal Police are helping in the investigation but declined to comment on the case.

The dispute between Luttrell and his associates stemmed from a complicated refinancing package for Friday's Resort, introduced in 1992 after Luttrell over-extended his company in the purchase of the Gateway Hotel.

Luttrell first arrived in the Philippines 15 years ago and immediately spotted Boracay's resort potential. The former architect set up a boat-chartering company, Galleon Gateway Cruises, on Boracay.

He and an English partner then started Friday's Resort on the choicest part of one of the top beaches in the world. In 1989 the pair formed Friday's Holdings Incorporated, with Bill Luttrell as managing director.

''However, Bill and his English partner over-extended themselves financially three years later when they acquired the Gateway Hotel in Malate as a booking office and satellite hotel for the Boracay operation, and then bought a plane to connect the two luxury resorts,'' a close friend and business associate of Luttrell said.

''Bill became strapped for cash and started to look around for partners. He finally settled for the Australian financiers and land dealers (in Hong Kong).''

Another close associate of Luttrell said the refinancing package included investments from Australian expatriates in Singapore who, together with their compatriots in Hong Kong, eventually owned 70 per cent of shares in Friday's, to Luttrell's 30 per cent.

''There was a perpetual wrangle over the land, which is a quiltwork of land bits owned by a hotchpotch of people,'' the associate said.

''Some bits have 20-year leases, some have 17. Both parties were trying to resolve this puzzle from their own perspective.

''The two Australians (in Hong Kong) ostensibly ran Friday's Boracay and Bill ran the Gateway Manila, but the two parties were in conflict.

''Bill had taken them to the Security and Exchange Commission court over the shareholding issue. I believe Bill was winning because he had paperwork and they didn't, but Bill was disappointed and unhappy because the case was always being recessed and delayed.

INVESTIGATION of the murder is further complicated by the involvement of a Philippines family which wanted to buy Friday's Resort but was apparently blocked by Luttrell, to the anger of his associates.

The family was closely linked to former president Ferdinand Marcos and is partners with Marcos' widow Imelda in several business projects.

Luttrell's brother John, 54, fled Manila with the assistance of the Australian Embassy over fears that as sole beneficiary of Bill's estate he too could be a target of the assassins. John Luttrell, an antiques dealer, has now returned to his home on Phillip Island in the Australian state of Victoria.

He has handed computer disks believed to contain clues to the identity of those who ordered his brother's murder to Australian Federal Police and has been interviewed at length by detectives.

''It was my first visit to the Philippines and I was only there for a three -week holiday,'' he said yesterday. ''Bill seemed happy enough but I know he had trouble with this court case.

''Then the last couple of days before he got shot he said things were finally getting somewhere and he would win.''

No additional information on the ivestigation into the murder of Austalian

businessman William Luttrell in the Philippines, nor information on whether anyone has

been charged or convicted for the murder, could be found among the sources

consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]. 30 October 1994. "Manila Murder Probe Leads to Hong Kong." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Correspondence sent to two sources

RB databases

NEXIS/LEXIS

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

BBC News Online

DERECHOS Human Rights

Philippines Centre for Investigative Journalism

Philippines Human Right Information Center

OneWorld

World News Connection