EAGAN, Minn. — A little over three weeks after a woman was found dead in an Eagan hotel room, a Little Canada man was arrested and charged with her murder.
The Dakota County Attorney's Office accused Philip Wong, 25, of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the Oct. 12 death of 53-year-old Jianqin Zhang.
According to the criminal complaint filed Monday, Zhang was found bent over one of the beds in the hotel room, face down and cold to the touch just before midnight by a hotel employee and a "concerned friend." When officers responded to the hotel, they found Zhang had been moved onto the floor so medics could perform life-saving efforts, but she was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
During their investigation, authorities said they talked with the woman's friend, who told them Zhang was a sex worker. The friend said the woman's "organization" asked them to check on her when they hadn't "heard from her in awhile." The "organization" allegedly told the friend that Zhang had met a client at the hotel around 3 p.m. on Oct. 12 and that the organization received a text from Zhang's phone at 3:39 p.m., saying the client had left.
The complaint said "numerous attempts" to reach Zhang by the "organization" after 3:45 p.m. then went unanswered.
Investigators later learned through Zhang's friend and hotel surveillance that Wong met Zhang at the hotel that afternoon just before 3 p.m. Prosecutors said that footage then showed Wong leaving the building at 3:48 p.m.
Another witness — identified as a housekeeper at the hotel — also spoke with investigators, saying she entered the room with her keycard around 4:30 p.m. when Zhang didn't answer the door. But when she walked inside, she said she saw Zhang bent over the side of the bed and immediately exited the room, according to the complaint.
In the wake of Zhang's death, authorities viewed keycard access to the room, which showed it was only entered three times on Oct. 12 — once at 4:41 p.m., coinciding with the housekeeper; once at 10:56 p.m., which coincided with another hotel employee; and lastly, at 11:56, coinciding with the hotel employee and friend who would eventually report the woman's condition to police.
On Oct. 17, the complaint said a search warrant was executed at Wong's home. Prosecutors allege clothes matching the description of Wong's at the time of Zhang's death were collected, as well as a cell phone. During questioning, Wong allegedly told police he went to the Eagan hotel that day to "receive a massage and cuddle" in response to an online advertisement.
He went on to tell police he went to Zhang's room, received a massage and then paid Zhang extra money to have sex. Later that night, he told police, someone from the "organization" called him and told him Zhang was dead. He told police he "thought it was only a scam" in an attempt to "get more money from him."
Three days later on Oct. 20, Wong's roommate allegedly told police that Wong claimed to have been blackmailed by Zhang after they had sex, saying Zhang told him she had a hidden camera in the hotel room. Court documents said Wong then told his roommate he "choked her (Zhang) out" but "believed she was still breathing" when he left the room.
Wong's roommate told investigators that over the following weeks, Wong sent her messages asking her to forgive him and that he "doesn't know what the future holds."
He also allegedly told family members he "could be going away for awhile" after engaging in an "altercation."
According to an autopsy report from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, Zhang showed signs of hemorrhaging on her neck and petechiae — defined by the Mayo Clinic as round spots/a rash on the skin caused by bleeding — on her eyes, mouth, lips and scalp. The ME also said the examination did not produce any evidence of controlled substances in her system at the time of her death.
Wong is currently in custody at the Dakota County Jail, where his bail has been set at $250,000 with conditions. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 9 in Hastings.
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