Thai police investigating the alleged murder of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla say an instinctual feeling by the investigating officer led to a deeper probe, ultimately resulting in the arrest and confession of Australian Simon Peter Carman. Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyoo told 7NEWS that from the moment the missing persons report was received, something felt wrong. "As Thai people, we might say that something guided us somehow," he said. "From the very beginning, the investigator who received the report did not ignore it. He reported it to me first, and I also had a kind of instinct that something bad might have happened."
Details of the incident
Carman, 45, allegedly killed Donhomla after an argument at an apartment complex in Pattaya in the early hours of Thursday. CCTV footage showed Carman leaving the building hours later wheeling a large suitcase. Police allege the same suitcase was used to dump Donhomla's naked body beside train tracks the following day. Her friends had alerted police to her disappearance on Friday, prompting the investigation.
Two officers reviewed CCTV footage, watching Carman "living his life as usual" until he allegedly rode off on a motorbike with the suitcase and returned without it 20 minutes later. "At that point it was suspicious, we felt that something must have happened, but we still had not reached a firm conclusion," Sarathongyoo said.
Arrest and confession
While searching for the suitcase, police learned Carman had traveled to Suvarnabhumi Airport in an alleged attempt to flee Thailand. To detain him, police charged Carman with abducting a minor. The suitcase was soon found, with Donhomla's body naked and curled up inside. Autopsy results are pending, but police noted facial injuries consistent with a violent assault, including swelling, bruising, and blood around her mouth and nose.
Carman was then charged with murder, carrying a maximum penalty of execution, and confessed. "In the end, he told us that it happened after he assaulted the victim following an argument," Sarathongyoo said. "He said he may have strangled her, causing her to lose consciousness and eventually die. After that, he panicked and didn't know what to do, so he put the victim's body into a suitcase. He kept her in the bathroom for about a day and later that evening he loaded the suitcase onto the back of his motorcycle and dumped it."
The police colonel added that Carman apologized to the teenager's family, saying he "did not intend to kill her, but he had already done something wrong."
Link to other cases
Police are investigating potential links to other deaths in the area. Two other bodies were found stuffed in suitcases in the Pattaya region—one in February last year and another in September. Those bags were dumped in water and filled with weights. Both cases remain unsolved and the victims unidentified. While there is no suggestion Carman is involved, police will compare DNA evidence from those cases with his. "We have not overlooked that," Sarathongyoo said. "Once we had this case, we also thought about previous cases and whether there might be any connection. We will try to look into which cases may be linked or related. But we are not making a blanket assumption that the person who committed this case must also have committed the previous cases. If there is any evidence that connects them, we will do our best to investigate it, so we can also help solve those previous cases."
Donhomla's body has been released to her family for funeral arrangements.
