BANGKOK — Thai police have revealed that Tunchanok Donhomla, a teenager whose body was found in a suitcase in Thailand, died from suffocation.Australian citizen Simon Carman has been accused of her murder.Carman has been in Thai police custody since late June, when he was arrested at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, attempting to board a flight to Australia.Police allege the 45-year-old picked up 17-year-old Donhomla, who was affectionately known as “Cake”, near Pattaya Beach in the early hours of June 25.Her naked body was found two days later, stuffed inside a suitcase that had been dumped near railway tracks about a 10-minute drive from Carman’s accommodation.On Wednesday, Pattaya City police chief Anek Srathongyoo said Tunchanok’s autopsy results “showed she died from suffocation”.”She also suffered some brain injury but that was not the cause of death,” he added. “It could have happened after she died as the accused moved her body in a suitcase before dumping it.”Anek further revealed that the DNA found on Tunchanok’s body matched Carman’s, and suggested that it “likely came from when he put her body in the suitcase”.Police are pressing four charges against Carman including murder; concealing or moving the body; kidnapping a child over 15 but under 18; and taking away a child over 15 but under 18 for an indecent act.Carman did not completely deny all the charges initially, Anek said.”He admitted to taking her out. That said, even if he pleads not guilty in court later, I believe we have collected all the evidence thoroughly and closed every loophole in the case in order to prove it to the court that he has committed those crimes,” the police chief said.Police will be ready to submit the case to prosecutors by Friday, according to Anek, who noted that the deadline for them to indict Carman was 18 September.Following his arrest, Carman denied the charges against him and claimed he had acted in self defense.In a video recorded while he was in custody, the suspect issued a message to Tunchanok’s family, saying: “I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control.””I know you’ll be very sad, upset… same [as] me,” he added. Tunchanok was an only child who lived with her father and step-mother in the province of Kalasin, about 480km north-east of Pattaya.BANGKOK — Thai police have revealed that Tunchanok Donhomla, a teenager whose body was found in a suitcase in Thailand, died from suffocation.Australian citizen Simon Carman has been accused of her murder.Carman has been in Thai police custody since late June, when he was arrested at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, attempting to board a flight to Australia.Police allege the 45-year-old picked up 17-year-old Donhomla, who was affectionately known as “Cake”, near Pattaya Beach in the early hours of June 25.Her naked body was found two days later, stuffed inside a suitcase that had been dumped near railway tracks about a 10-minute drive from Carman’s accommodation.On Wednesday, Pattaya City police chief Anek Srathongyoo said Tunchanok’s autopsy results “showed she died from suffocation”.”She also suffered some brain injury but that was not the cause of death,” he added. “It could have happened after she died as the accused moved her body in a suitcase before dumping it.”Anek further revealed that the DNA found on Tunchanok’s body matched Carman’s, and suggested that it “likely came from when he put her body in the suitcase”.Police are pressing four charges against Carman including murder; concealing or moving the body; kidnapping a child over 15 but under 18; and taking away a child over 15 but under 18 for an indecent act.Carman did not completely deny all the charges initially, Anek said.”He admitted to taking her out. That said, even if he pleads not guilty in court later, I believe we have collected all the evidence thoroughly and closed every loophole in the case in order to prove it to the court that he has committed those crimes,” the police chief said.Police will be ready to submit the case to prosecutors by Friday, according to Anek, who noted that the deadline for them to indict Carman was 18 September.Following his arrest, Carman denied the charges against him and claimed he had acted in self defense.In a video recorded while he was in custody, the suspect issued a message to Tunchanok’s family, saying: “I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control.””I know you’ll be very sad, upset… same [as] me,” he added. Tunchanok was an only child who lived with her father and step-mother in the province of Kalasin, about 480km north-east of Pattaya.
Thai teen found in suitcase died from suffocation, police reveal
