A 17-year-old Thai girl has been found dead, her body stuffed inside a suitcase discarded near a railway track in the coastal city of Pattaya, Thailand. An Australian man has been charged with her murder.
Tunchanok Donhomla, known by her nickname Cake, was reported missing on Friday evening. Thai police reviewed CCTV footage that allegedly showed suspect Simon Peter Carman entering a condominium with the teenager at 3:34 a.m. on Thursday. Later that evening, he was seen leaving alone, carrying a large suitcase, which he loaded onto a motorbike before heading toward a railway line.
Officers arrested Carman at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, approximately 150 kilometres north of Pattaya, at 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, alleging he was preparing to flee the country. Donhomla’s naked body was discovered in the suitcase about 15 minutes later. He has been charged with murder, concealing a body, and taking a minor for sexual purposes. He denies all charges and claims he acted in self-defence. Scratch marks found across his body, consistent with a struggle, were attributed by Carman to a spider.
In a video recorded in custody, Carman addressed the family directly. “I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control,” he said.
Cake was an only child from Kalasin province, living with her father and stepmother. Her father said she “always helped” him and found her own way through life. Her stepmother said the family had hoped their worst fears would not come true. They did.
If convicted, Carman faces the death penalty under Thai law.
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