Australian Man Charged with Homicide After Thai Teen's Body Found in Suitcase
Thai police have charged an Australian citizen with homicide after a 17-year-old girl's body was discovered in a suitcase near Pattaya, and the suspect was detained at Bangkok airport.
Thai authorities charged Simon Peter Carman, an Australian from Western Australia, with homicide after the naked body of a 17-year-old girl was found inside a suitcase near railroad tracks in Pattaya. The teenager had been reported missing on Friday and was last seen with a foreign man on Jomtien Beach, police said.
CCTV footage from a nearby condominium showed the girl entering the building with a man and later leaving alone with a large black suitcase before riding away on a motorcycle. Investigators recovered the suitcase at about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, and the victim’s remains were inside. Police also located Carman’s passport in the condo unit.
Carman was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Saturday as he attempted to leave Thailand. A police spokesperson said the suspect claimed an argument escalated into a strangulation during the altercation.
The victim’s family said she had traveled from Kalasin in northeastern Thailand to Pattaya in mid-June for a vacation. Her stepmother told Thai media that the girl sometimes sold fruit or garlands on street corners to support her family but was not forced to work.
