Thai police are investigating whether an Australian man accused of murdering a Thai teenager, whose body was found inside a suitcase, could be connected to two unsolved deaths involving women whose bodies were also found in suitcases.
Former truck driver Simon Carman, 45, has been charged with the murder of Thanchanok Donhomla, 17, after her body was found in a suitcase near railway tracks, just a few minutes away from where the accused was staying in Pattaya.
It is alleged that he strangled her to death, following a dispute over payment for her company.
Local police stress that there is currently no evidence linking Carman to the earlier cases, but the similarities in the crime scenes have prompted the investigation.
“Although there was no evidence linking Simon Peter Carman to the cases in neighbouring regions, they were investigating the possibility given similarities between the cases,” Pattaya City Police Superintendent Colonel Anek Srathongyoo told The Guardian.
Investigators said the two unsolved cases occurred in the past two years, with their bodies found in suitcases around Huay Yai and Ban Chang district, close to Pattaya.
Police believe both women worked in the region’s adult entertainment industry.
Colonel Srathongyoo said he is working together with police in the other districts as they fall outside his jurisdiction.
Investigators have also confirmed that Carman rented a condominium in Jomtien Beach for one year.
The Australian man had entered Thailand on a tourist visa in December before extending his stay.
Carman has been charged with charged with murder, concealment and moving or destroying a body and procuring a minor for sex and taking a minor aged between 15 and 18 for sexual purposes.
He denies the charges.
