By Zarisha Bradley
A 42-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a woman found dead inside an East Perth hotel on Sunday morning.
Police were called to Quality Hotel Ambassador Perth on Adelaide Terrace around 9.40am where Vitorina Bruce, 40, was found unresponsive in the corridor of the sixth floor.
WA Police Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Fogell said she appeared to have been attacked with a weapon.
“One of the upper floors, inside one of the rooms [is where the incident occurred], and then it migrated into the corridor outside that room ... there were witnesses,” he said.
WA Police have since said Bruce was stabbed, allegedly by a man who was known to her.
Bystanders and paramedics attempted to provide first aid, but she later died in hospital. Hotel guests were not allowed to return on Sunday as forensic officers scoured the venue.
Bruce, a mother of five, moved to Australia earlier this year to support her family in Fiji. She had been employed in Perth’s hospitality industry after separating from her husband and was the sole breadwinner for her children.
Daughter Seremana Tikoilautoka, 19, described her as “the most loving and caring mother”.
“We are not good at all, it’s been a tough day today, we were shocked this morning when we heard the news about my mum, and we can’t do anything about it because it’s too late,” she said.
“I wish she was here, just to hear her voice one more time, or just to see her face.
“The last time we talked was on Saturday ... she was just sending her regards to my younger sisters sitting their exams this week, we didn’t know it was the last goodbye for us.”
The accused man, who has been in custody since being arrested in the lobby of the hotel, will appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.