A Thai citizen was charged on Monday with the murder of a tourist from Switzerland, the BBC reported. A woman’s body was found last week near a waterfall on the island of Phuket. During a press conference organized by the police, the 27-year-old confessed to the murder.
Thai police spokesman Krisana Pattanacharoen reported that the 27-year-old was charged with “murder and fatal robbery”. “The cause of death has not yet been confirmed, and the autopsy results are yet to be released,” he added. The accused himself, Theerawut Tortip, who confessed to killing the Swiss woman, also appeared at the press conference. – I want to apologize to the tourist’s family and ask all Thai people to forgive me – he said.
Thai citizen accused of murdering a tourist Reuters
The murder of a Swiss woman on the island of Phuket
The murdered Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf, 57, has arrived in Thailand as part of a travel program that allows people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter Phuket without being quarantined, as long as they stay there for two weeks.
The suspect was tracked on the basis of recordings from surveillance cameras. They show that he went to the vicinity of the waterfall on the island of Phuket at the same time as the murdered woman. According to police, he strangled her and stole 300 baht ($ 9). He published them, incl. for drugs.
Death of a tourist on the island of PhuketReuters
After finding the tourist’s body, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat told reporters that the head of the department, Don Pramudwinai, had contacted the Swiss ambassador to Bangkok. He conveyed his condolences on the “murder of the Swiss woman”. The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it had been informed of the death of a woman, “apparently a Swiss citizen,” but did not provide details. The media in Switzerland speculated that the murdered woman worked in the diplomatic service of that country, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Main photo source: Reuters