Family members of a 17-year-old Thai girl whose body was discovered in a suitcase near a popular spa town attended a court hearing Monday where, for the first time, they saw the Australian accused of killing her. Simon Peter Carman was arrested in June after Tunchanok Donhomla was reported missing in Pattaya, a city about 150 kilometers southeast of Bangkok known for tourism and the sex trade. The suitcase containing his body was found shortly after next to the train tracks in a deserted area. Carman, who will turn 46 later this month, was taken in handcuffs to Pattaya Provincial Court on Monday for a procedural hearing to name witnesses who will testify. Australian Simon Peter Carman, fourth from left, was arrested at a Bangkok airport in June. Pattaya Provincial Police via AP The Australian defendant could receive the death penalty. He has been charged with murder, two counts of indecent behavior involving a minor and concealing a corpse. A conviction on the charge of premeditated murder carries the possibility of the death penalty. Carman initially denied all charges, saying he was acting in self-defense and did not know the girl’s real age. However, when a judge informed him Monday that the evidence against him for hiding the victim’s body was strong, but that he could expect leniency if he confessed to that charge, he indicated he would change his plea to guilty. Speaking to reporters before the hearing, the victim’s aunt, Miruntree Thanachai, said it would be the first time the family would meet the Australian defendant. Simon Peter Carman walks with a 17-year-old girl, whom he is accused of killing. via REUTERS “We previously asked the authorities, but they did not allow us to see him. We want to know the person who killed our relative,” he said. Police said the girl was last seen on security footage entering a condo with Carman. He was later seen leaving the building alone with a large suitcase. Security footage showed him loading it onto a motorcycle and driving away. The family said Tunchanok had gone on holiday to Pattaya from his home in the rural northeastern province of Kalasin. Police arrested the suspect as he was about to fly home to Australia. Carman was arrested at Bangkok airport before boarding a flight to Australia. Police said further questioning led them to the suitcase with the girl’s body. In a police interrogation video shared online by Thai media, Carman said he was defending himself because the girl was threatening him with a knife. “Simon claimed it was self-defense, but this is not self-defense because if it is self-defense, how can my son’s teeth fall out? I want to ask,” the victim’s father, Tongchai Donhomla, told reporters. A prison vehicle transporting Carman to a Pattaya court. AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn He and other family members said they had seen the victim’s body and that her face had been smashed. “I want the death penalty, but there is nothing I can do. I want the law to punish as much as possible,” he said. Miruntree Thanachai, one of the girl’s aunts, echoed her sentiment. “The family wants the court to sentence him to death because we have lost a member of our family, the most important one. That is why we want the execution because we do not want this to happen to others again. No one can bear this kind of damage,” he added. On Friday, the grieving family also filed a case against Carman in civil court, seeking $49,000 in damages.
