Australian man charged with murder after girl found dead in suitcase in Thailand

Carman pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges of transporting or concealing a corpse and taking a minor for sexual purposes, and claimed he acted in self-defense.

Media reports say Carman told police he agreed to pay Donholma 1,000 baht (£23, $30, $43) for sexual services, but when they returned to his flat they argued and he offered only 500 baht.

Thai police told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Carman also claimed Donhomla “disappeared from the room” while he was sleeping.

In the video recorded while in custody, the suspect gave the following message to Donholma’s family: “I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control.”

“I know you’ll be very upset, upset… same [as] I.”

She added: “Please tell the other girls… just be careful.”

Pattaya City Police Station Chief Colonel Anek Srathongyoo told the ABC that Carman “had fingernail scratches on her body consistent with a struggle, but he denied killing her.”

Another police video clip shows Carman being asked about the scratch marks.

“I think it’s a spider; they come in here all the time,” he replies.

Donhomla’s family told the ABC he was an only child living with his father and stepmother in the Kalasin district, about 480 kilometers northeast of Pattaya. The young man, whose nickname was Cake, told his family that he wanted to go on holiday with a friend and went to Pattaya on June 16.

Her father, Thongchai Donhomla, said he was “deeply saddened” by his daughter’s death.

“My daughter didn’t have a mother, so whenever she wanted something, she found a way and always helped me,” she told a local reporter.

“We were scared. We just hoped it wouldn’t be as we feared. Now our eyes are swollen from crying,” said his stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum.

“I just want him to be executed… I even asked the police if I could hit him, beat him,” he added.

It is stated that Carman may face the death penalty if found guilty of murder.