54-year-old Roger Bullman became emotional when he discussed the plight of the son of the UK man he killed in a violent struggle as well as the impact it is having on his own daughter in Oslo. The Norwegian has again put forward a version of events of what happened in the early hours of August 21st at the Grand Centara Hotel in Phuket in which the UK national initiated the attack by stabbing him in the shoulder after knocking on the door of his room. This directly contradicts the evidence of the Ms Bandhna Kaur Bajaj, the wife of the victim, and which is now reported to be accepted by Thai police in Phuket after a review of the crime.
The Norwegian fugitive Roger Bullman, running from an Interpol arrest warrant and murder charges in Phuket following the death of UK national Amitpal Singh Bajaj has spoken with reporters from his Asian lair and offered to surrender if he can face justice at home in Norway but vows never to return to Thailand.
The 54-year-old bodyguard and mental hospital nurse has also rejected the charge of murder again resurrecting the claim that he was the victim of a knife attack by the IT engineer which triggered the violent struggle in the early hours of August 21st last which led to the death of the UK man in hospital hours later.
Mr Bullman was adamant however that he was not returning to Thailand to face the inside of a Thai prison.
Norwegian TV tracks Bullman down in Asia
A Norwegian TV channel tracked down Roger Bullman, the former Norwegian soldier, bodybuilder and mental health centre nurse who is now wanted in Thailand by Phuket Police who have upgraded the charges against him to include murder following the killing of 34-year-old UK citizen Amital Singh Bajaj in the early hours of August 21st last at a luxury hotel. It is believed that Bullman is lying low in an Asian country.
Last seen at the Norwegian embassy in Hanoi
He was sighted in Hanoi on September 13th last after he jumped bail hours before a Phuket court ordered his arrest for failing to show up in court when ordered at the end of August. On that day, the fugitive appeared at the Norwegian embassy seeking a new passport.
Bullman was controversially granted bail by Thai authorities 12 hours after the lethal fight between the 54-year old man and the 35-year-old IT engineer.
Violent struggle and fight developed from a dispute between the two men in adjoining rooms
The violent struggle resulted from a dispute that developed between the two men who were in adjoining rooms at the 5 star Centara Grand Hotel after Mr Bullman is reported to have begun singing opera on his balcony at 4 am.
The widow of the murdered man, Bandhna Bajaj, who lives in Singapore, has campaigned assiduously since the murder to bring him to justice even returning to assist Thai police in Phuket in September to help recreate the crime.
This saw Thai police officers upgrade the charge against Bulman from causing the death of Mr Bajaj, a charge similar to manslaughter, to one of murder.
Victim’s wife critical of Phuket authorities
Ms Bajaj, however, has still been critical of Thai authorities. ‘He would never have been given bail if this had happened in the UK,’ she told the media after Bullman went missing.
The widow has recalled how a naked Bullman charged into the adjoining hotel bedroom where she had been staying with her husband and infant son, Veer, on August 21st.
UK man sent wife away after Bullman stormed in according to Ms Baja’s version of events
Her husband immediately sent away his wife and infant child and engaged Bullamn in a violent struggle that led to the Norwegian being stabbed by the UK man who finally succumbed to a chokehold executed by Bullman, a martial arts expert.
Police later arrived to find Bullman crying while holding the UK man in his grip. Mr Bajaj died later in hospital.
Now Bullman is stating in a room apartment
This week Bullman was located by the Norwegian TV channel TV 2 Nyhetene holed up in a small one-roomed apartment somewhere in Asia.
He told the Norwegian journalists that, so far, the incident has cost him nearly $220,000 or ฿7 million.
It was reported recently that the apartment in Oslo that Bullman had shared with his partner Elvira, was quietly sold while the fugitive told Norwegian TV that he has sold everything he has to fund his escape and what he sees as a quest for justice.
Gets emotional talking about the children
In tears, the 54-year-old told the reporters that he gets emotional when he thinks of the little boy whose father he had killed.
‘I think it’s horrible to think that a little boy has lost his dad. I think about my daughter like that, too. As soon as we start with the kids stuff, I cannot speak any more. Sorry. They are the ones that go above and beyond,’ he explained.
Inside 23 hours per day
He told reporters that he rarely goes out of his refuge staying in 23 hours a day fearing he will be detected or recognised. ‘The most days I have stayed in the room without going out the door are 11 days,’ he said.
He told the TV crews that he wasn’t sure how long he could carry on in his current predicament.
Offered to surrender and face justice in Norway
Since September, the fugitive has been the subject of an Interpol worldwide arrest warrant.
This week, he told Norwegian reporters that he was prepared to surrender if he could be sent back to Norway to stand trial.
He says he wants to be near his beloved young daughter. The fugitive indicated that he would expect to serve a prison sentence but felt that he could receive a fairer trial in his home country while his daughter would be able to visit him even if he ended up being jailed for his actions last August.
‘That’s just what I am thinking of now. I feel I have disappointed her so much,’ he explained to the news crew sent to meet him. ‘To come home and just be with my daughter. If I’m put in jail and things like that, it doesn’t matter. If only we are in the same country, and she can come to visit me.’
Adamant that he will not return to Thailand
However, the Norwegian is adamant that he would do everything possible to avoid being returned to Thailand. He admitted that he felt he would not be able to survive the harsh conditions in a Thai prison.
He also added that he is concerned at reports that the charges now being pressed against hin in Phuket relate to murder. ‘The alternative is so damn bleak. I do not want to turn myself in because they have prepared such a big case against me now,’ he said.
Challenging Ms Bajaj’s version of events
Significantly, Mr Bullman is challenging the version of events given out by the widow of Mr Bajaj since he fled Thailand’s jurisdiction.
Mrs Bajaj has strenuously insisted that the Norwegian thundered into the room being occupied by the Bajaj family at the start of the melee which led to her husband’s death.
In speaking with the media this week, Mr Bullman raised again the version of events first released to the media by tourist police in Phuket at the onset of media reporting of the incident.
Says the UK man stabbed him with a knife triggering the fight after knocking on his hotel room door
Mr Bullman is claiming that Mr Bajaj, following the exchange of verbal assaults between the two men on the balcony, knocked at his hotel bedroom door and when he opened, the UK man stabbed him with a knife into his shoulder.
‘Then he banged on my door. I thought there were hotel guards. Then I open the door, and then he is standing there,’ he explained. ‘The first thing he does when I open the door is to put a knife into my shoulder so that my whole arm dies out. After that, it’s black for me.’
Further reading:
Fugitive Bullman still on the run – Phuket police request additional manpower to arrest him
Norwegian killer Bullman hunted by police in Phuket, failed to turn up in court and disappeared
Norwegian killer accepts he’s going to Thai prison after violent killing of UK man at Phuket hotel
UK man’s wife says her husband died protecting his family in Phuket: ‘He will always be our hero’
