Murdered Woman Stuffed Into Suitcase Weighed Just 40kg — Man ID'd as Suspect Claimed She Died in Self-Defense

Simon Carman, a 45-year-old Australian man, has been charged with murdering 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla in Thailand. He claims he acted in self-defense, but police say the teenager was just 150 cm tall and weighed about 40 kg.

According to Pattaya police, Carman claimed the teen threatened him with a knife. However, officers noted that he is about 180 cm tall and weighs more than 100 kg. They have rejected his account and are continuing to investigate the case.

Currently, Carman is being held at Pattaya Remand Prison. He plans to plead not guilty to the murder charge and to accusations that he moved and hid the girl's body in a suitcase.

Colonel Anek Srathongyoo said that Carman was arrested at Bangkok’s international airport while attempting to board a flight to Perth over the weekend.

"We put him on a watch list 10 minutes before he was due to go through immigration," Colonel Srathongyoo explained in a translated interview.

He added, "If he had passed security, we did not have a warrant for his arrest."

Carman was tracked on his way to the airport and was detained before the discovery of Donhomla’s body, which was found near railway tracks just 10 minutes from his apartment at Jomtien Beach.

He had met the underage girl on the beach and brought her back to his apartment at 3:34 am on Thursday, June 25. Police confirmed that she was killed around 4 a.m.

According to authorities, CCTV footage shows Carman appearing calm after Donhomla died. They say he kept her body in his bathroom for around 18 hours before placing it in a suitcase and abandoning it near railway tracks The police also assert that he took the victim's belongings from the apartment, seemingly trying to eliminate items that might contain her DNA.

Investigators reported that the suitcase held her loose-fitting stone-wash jeans, cream sandals, a bra, underwear, a towel, and her mobile phone.

Blood was discovered on her face, although law enforcement suspects that some injuries may have been inflicted while the suitcase was being transported on the back of his motorbike. An autopsy is currently in progress, with investigators awaiting results to ascertain if there is any indication of sexual activity before Donhomla's death.

Earlier in the investigation, authorities looked into the possibility of linking the case to two unsolved murders where women's bodies were discovered in suitcases. However, they have since determined that there is no connection. The police are also examining Carman's internet search history as part of their ongoing investigation. Friends of Donhomla reportedly began searching for her after she did not return home and went to Carman's apartment, where one friend confronted him regarding her disappearance. A friend, who wished to remain anonymous, described Donhomla in a text message as "a well-behaved, friendly person but also timid," expressing confusion over why anyone would want to harm her.

Donhomla was an only child, and her mother had passed away. She had traveled to Pattaya for a vacation on June 16, just nine days before her death.

Her stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, remarked, "She was still so young."

Her father, Thongchai, expressed that he is "deeply saddened." After an autopsy in Bangkok, Donhomla's body was returned to her family. A funeral service took place in Ban Bo, Kalasin, on June 30, where she was cremated, and relatives and mourners gathered to pay their last respects.