PATTAYA, Thailand — Thai authorities have charged an Australian man with murder over the death of a 17-year-old girl whose body was found inside a suitcase near a railway line in this resort city, police said.
The suspect, identified by police as Simon Carman, 46, was arrested Friday evening at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok as he attempted to board a flight to Perth, Australia, according to police and local media reports. He faces charges including murder, concealing a body and taking a minor for an indecent purpose, police said. Carman has denied killing the teenager.
Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyu, head of the Pattaya City Police Station, said investigators believe Carman was responsible for the girl's death and noted he had fingernail scratches "consistent with a struggle." Asked in a video recorded after his arrest about marks on his neck, Carman attributed them to a spider, according to the footage.
Investigators said the case began after the teenager's friends reported her missing Friday afternoon. Police said they traced her final movements to a condominium room she had entered with the suspect. Security camera footage reviewed by investigators showed her entering the building with the man in the early hours of Thursday, police said. Separate footage later showed him leaving the building with a large black suitcase, which he loaded onto a motorbike before riding away, according to police.
The girl's body was subsequently found inside the suitcase, dumped a short distance from the condominium, police said. Authorities said she had suffered a severe assault, including heavy bruising to her face. Officers alerted immigration authorities after tracing the suspect's movements, leading to his interception at the airport, police said.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the man but declined to comment further on the case, citing privacy considerations.
The arrest comes amid heightened scrutiny of foreign visitors in Thailand following the government's recent decision to shorten visa-free stays for tourists, a move announced after a series of cases involving foreign nationals accused of crimes in the country.
Thai police have not indicated when Carman will formally appear in court. The investigation remains ongoing.
