Australian man arrested after Thai teen girl found dead in suitcase
The family of a 17-year-old Thai girl whose body was found in a suitcase in Pattaya said they were devastated by her death, and an Australian man has been arrested and charged with her murder.
Thai police said they arrested an Australian man in his 40s at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport early Saturday in connection with the murder in Pattaya, about 150 km (93 miles) east of Bangkok.
The suspect, identified as Simon Peter Carman, faces charges of murder, concealment of a corpse, transportation or disposal of a corpse and taking a minor for sexual purposes.
Thai police said they reviewed CCTV footage that showed Carman entering an apartment with the girl and leaving alone with a suitcase hours later.
He loaded the luggage onto a motorcycle and drove to a grassy area near the railway line, police said in a post on the official Facebook page. Police later issued an arrest warrant and arrested Carman at the airport as he prepared to board a flight back to Australia.
Rescue workers, police officers and forensic technicians searched a grassy area near the railway line in Pattaya City on June 27 before police found a bag containing the body of a 17-year-old Thai girl. -Teerasak Suttativong/Reuters
Forensic technicians examined the bag in which police found the body of a 17-year-old Thai girl, who was recovered from a grassy area near a railway line in Pattaya City on June 27. -Teerasak Suttativong/Reuters
In an investigation room at the police station, Carman issued a message to the victim’s family before being transferred to the Pattaya District Court.
“I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control,” he said.
The victim’s father, Thongchai Donhomla, 46, said he was struggling to come to terms with his loss.
“I was very sad. My daughter didn’t have a mother, so whenever she wanted something, she found it herself and always helped me,” he said.
His stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, said she wanted the suspect to face the harshest punishment.
“I told the police I want him to be executed. As a (step)mother, I don’t know what else to say… I just want him to face all the consequences,” she said.
Police did not say when Carman would make his first court appearance.
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