Updated

Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 30

Thai Police Charge Australian Simon Peter Carman in 17-Year-Old's Murder, Body Found in Suitcase

Updated

Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 30

Thai Police Charge Australian Simon Peter Carman in 17-Year-Old's Murder, Body Found in Suitcase

Q: With two prior unsolved suitcase murders, have police finally caught a serial killer preying on women in Pattaya?

No. Police have arrested and charged Simon Peter Carman in the killing of 17-year-old Thunchanok Donhomla, but there is not yet public evidence proving he is responsible for the two earlier suitcase murders or that he is a serial killer. What is established is the strength of the case in Donhomla’s death. Investigators say CCTV shows her entering Carman’s condo and never leaving, while Carman was later seen taking out a large suitcase and returning without it. He was arrested at Bangkok’s airport while trying to leave Thailand. Police say he later admitted killing her after an argument, though he has also claimed self-defense. A medical examination found likely suffocation and no signs of beating. The serial-killer question rests on similarities, not proof. Police are examining two unsolved cases from the past two years in which women’s bodies were also found in suitcases in nearby districts. Those victims were reportedly believed to have worked in the adult industry. That pattern is serious enough to justify a wider investigation, but similarity in disposal method alone does not establish one offender. At this stage, the accurate framing is that Thai police may have found a suspect worth scrutinizing across multiple cases, but they have not publicly shown forensic, digital, travel, or witness evidence tying Carman to the earlier murders. Until that evidence emerges, calling him a serial killer would be premature.

3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 30

Thai police charged Simon Peter Carman with premeditated murder and concealing a body after finding a 17-year-old girl's remains in a suitcase in Pattaya.
CCTV showed the girl entering a condominium with Carman on Thursday, then showed him leaving alone that night with a large suitcase, which police say he loaded onto a motorbike and took to a deserted railway area.
Bangkok airport officers arrested Carman early Saturday as he prepared to board a flight to Perth; he had initially been charged with raping a minor before the body's discovery brought the murder case.
Carman denied the charges but told investigators in video shared by Thai media that he held the girl down after she became "crazy" and threatened him with a knife while he was trying to give her 500 baht.
The case has widened beyond the teen's death, with Thai police also examining whether Carman is linked to two other unsolved cases involving women whose bodies were found in suitcases.