Grim photos have emerged of the cluttered hotel room where an Australian man allegedly strangled a Thai teenager to death.
Simon Peter Carman, 45, from Perth's southern suburbs, remains in custody after the body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was found inside a black suitcase near railway tracks outside Pattaya last Friday night, two days after she was last seen. Police allege the British-born truck driver placed the teen's naked body into the suitcase before dumping it in long grass a day earlier.
Carman was arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport just minutes before he allegedly attempted to board a Jetstar flight to Perth. He has been charged with murder, concealing and moving a body, and taking a minor aged between 15 and 18 for sexual purposes.
An unnamed friend of Ms. Donhomla visited Carman's hotel room after reporting the teen's disappearance to police. Photos obtained by the ABC show the friend confronting Carman in the untidy room, with piles of clothing strewn everywhere. The top of the fridge was littered with cleaning products and multiple empty alcohol bottles. A small pink bow was seen stuck on the front door.
Carman denies the allegations and claims he acted in self-defense, alleging that Ms. Donhomla attacked him with a knife during an argument over money. In taped interviews released online by police, Carman addressed Ms. Donhomla's family, stating, "I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control."
Carman remains in custody at Pattaya Remand Prison, where he is halfway through a mandatory 10-day quarantine period in isolation.