HER FINAL MESSAGE HAS NOW BEEN REVEALED 🚨 CHILLING LAST TEXT SENT BY THAI TEEN BEFORE SHE ALLEGEDLY MET AUSTRALIAN MUR-DER SUSPECT SIMON CARMAN
The chilling final text message a Thai girl sent before her body was allegedly stuffed into a suitcase by an Australian man has been revealed.
Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, was allegedly strangled to death by 45-year-old Simon Peter Carman after an argument over payment for sexual services in the early hours of Thursday.
She travelled from her home in Kalasin province, in northern Thailand, to Pattaya for a holiday with a friend just days ago.
The pair met Carman near Jomtien Beach before Tunchanok returned to his apartment.
CCTV footage allegedly captured them holding hands as they entered the building, marking the last time she was seen alive.
The teenager messaged her friend via the Line messaging app after arriving at Carman’s apartment.
“‘I’ve arrived at [his] apartment. The room is so messy,’” Thai police colonel Anek Srathongyoo told SBS, quoting the message.
He said Tunchanok also told her friend she would be staying with Carman so they would know where she was and not worry.
According to local media reports, Carman told investigators the pair initially agreed on 1000 baht (about $A43) for sexual services at Jomtien Beach, but he later offered her 500 baht (about $A22) after they arrived at his apartment, triggering an argument.
He allegedly claimed the teenager attempted to leave and held a knife to his neck before a struggle ensued.
“According to Simon’s interrogation, Simon said he had strangled her until she was motionless, then brought her body into the bathroom,” Srathongyoo said.
“He didn’t know what to do, so at that point he panicked, stuffed her body into the bag and kept it in the bathroom for about a day before taking it out to be disposed of.”
Carman claimed it was an act of self-defence.
CCTV also allegedly captured Carman leaving the apartment building hours later while wheeling a large suitcase.
Police allege he strapped it to the back of a red Yamaha Aerox motorcycle before dumping it in scrub beside railway tracks.
After Tunchanok’s friend reported her missing on Friday morning, investigators traced her movements to the apartment building before locating the suitcase.
Police later confirmed her body was curled up inside.
They said she had suffered facial injuries consistent with a violent assault, including swelling, bruising and blood around her mouth and nose.
Carman was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport while allegedly attempting to board a flight to Perth.
Carman held in notorious Thai prison
He is now facing multiple charges, including murder, concealing and moving a body, and abducting a minor for indecent purposes.
Carman is currently being kept at Pattaya Remand Prison as detectives work to submit their case to the public prosecutor within an 84-day deadline post arrest, The West Australian confirmed.
He is reportedly subject to a mandatory quarantine period in custody, meaning he is banned from visitors and food deliveries until that period reportedly ends in around 10 days.
Footage posted by Thai media in 2019 shows countless shirtless inmates with shaved heads at the facility being ordered out of their cells during a raid. The dramatic police action by Pattaya police was part of a security review amid fears inmates possessed drugs and contraband.
If Carman is convicted, he could face a penalty of death by lethal injection.
He would then likely be transferred to Bangkok’s Bang Kwang Central Prison to await execution or serve a term of life imprisonment.
Accused man relocated to Thailand last year
According to The Pattaya News, Carman had lived alone in a rented condominium in Jomtien for the past eight months, paying about $A479 a month in rent.
It is understood Carman was born in Ballarat before growing up in Jerramungup, about 440km southeast of Perth. His family later moved to Albany.
7NEWS understands Carman previously worked as a truck driver between Western Australia and regional Victoria before relocating to Thailand last year.
“It’s a horrific case and I think we’ve all been horrified by what has happened and our sympathy goes to the friends and family,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said.
Wong said she was “bound by privacy obligations” when speaking on the level of consular assistance that has been or will be provided to Carman.
“We obviously provide consular assistance to Australians overseas where required,” Wong said.
Police probing two similar murders
Meanwhile, Thai police have confirmed to 7NEWS they’re working out if two other murders are linked.
The bodies were also found stuffed in suitcases around the Pattaya region. One in February last year, the other in September.
The bags were dumped in water and filled with weights. Both cases remain unsolved, the victims unidentified.
There’s no suggestion Carman is involved, but police will compare DNA evidence between those cases and his.
“It may or may not be linked, but quite suspicious. It’s in a similar area,’ former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina said.
SOURCE: https://7news.com.au/news/thai-teenagers-final-text-before-she-was-allegedly-murdered-by-australian-man-simon-carman-c-22510148
