BANGKOK – Thai law enforcement officials announced Tuesday that an Australian man has been formally charged with murder and unlawful concealment of a corpse following the killing of a 17-year-old girl in one of Thailand’s most popular coastal tourist destinations. The case, which has drawn cross-border public attention, unfolded over four days before the suspect was taken into custody while attempting to flee the country.
The teenage victim was first reported missing to local authorities last Friday. Investigators later confirmed that the last confirmed sighting of the girl came from condominium security footage, which captured her entering the residential building alongside the accused, identified as Simon Peter Carman, in Pattaya. The beach resort city sits roughly 93 miles east of Thailand’s capital Bangkok, drawing millions of international visitors every year.
Following the pair’s entry to the condominium, additional surveillance footage shows Carman leaving the building alone, pulling a large hard-shell suitcase behind him. Investigators say he then loaded the bulky suitcase onto a motorbike and rode into a remote, unpopulated stretch of land parallel to a local railway line.
Authorities intercepted Carman in the early hours of Saturday at Bangkok’s international airport, just minutes before he was set to board a commercial flight bound for Perth, Australia. At the time of his arrest, he was only charged with the rape of a minor. But a quick search of the route captured on security footage led officers to the suitcase holding the victim’s body shortly after his arrest, prompting the addition of the far more severe murder and body concealment charges.
Under Thai criminal law, a conviction for premeditated murder carries the possibility of the death penalty. Kanoknan Sooksri, the lead Pattaya Police investigator assigned to the case, confirmed that Carman is currently being held in police custody and has been assigned a state-appointed defense attorney. The exact date of his first court appearance has not yet been finalized, and Carman has formally denied all charges brought against him.
Security footage published by local Thai media outlets purports to show the full timeline of the incident: early Thursday morning, Carman and the victim are seen holding hands as they walk into the condominium’s elevator. More than 12 hours later, Carman exits the building alone, dragging the dark-colored suitcase that would later be found holding the girl’s body. A second video clip circulating online, also released by Thai media, captures Carman during his initial interrogation by police.
In the recorded interrogation, Carman claimed to officers that he was only restraining the victim because she had become agitated and violent. He alleged that the teen threatened him with a knife after he attempted to hand her 500 Thai baht, the equivalent of roughly 15 U.S. dollars. “I had my wallet open to get the money out, and next thing there’s a knife to my face,” Carman told investigators in the clip.