Suspect charged with murder of Australian tourist in SF ID'd

The suspect arrested in connection with the slaying of an Australian tourist who died following a fight early Friday at a hotel in the Russian Hill neighborhood was identified Monday by police as David Murillo, 34, of Hesperia, Calif.

Murillo was booked into San Francisco County Jail on a felony murder charge. Efforts to reach him or determine whether he had a lawyer were not immediately successful.

Police accuse Murillo of killing Matthew Bate, 33, of Woolner, Northern Territory, Australia about 2:15 a.m. Friday in the breezeway of the da Vinci Villa Hotel, located in the 2500 block of Van Ness Avenue in the Russian Hill neighborhood.

The motive for the fight between Bate and his attackers has not been revealed. But investigators said they believe Bate may have been at a local bar in the hours leading up to the fight.

Woolner is a suburb of Darwin, located on the northern coast of Australia. Bate's LinkedIn page shows he was working as an analytical chemist for a company called SGS Australia.