The couple lived in a rented house in the province for five months and lost contact with a critical local friend on Thursday. Officers discovered their bodies on Saturday morning with a slain dog.
Police in the northeastern Thai province of Amnat Charoen on Saturday removed the bodies of two European foreigners living in the region for five months from a rented house in what appears to be a murder-suicide.
The bodies of a European couple were found on Saturday by police who were called to a rented house in Amnat Charoen province.
Amnat Charoen is in central northeastern Thailand, in the Isaan region. The province shares a small border with Laos and neighbouring Ubon Ratchathani, Yosothon and Mukdahan.
The Superintendent of Phana Police Station, Police Colonel Chotnarin Sathupawarat, briefed the media.
The senior officer told reporters that the dead couple, a 47-year-old Swiss man and a 40-year-old Moldovan woman, had not yet been identified.
Most likely a murder-suicide incident, as Phana Police opened an investigation and ordered post-mortem examinations after a grim discovery
Investigators are keeping an open mind, but it is most likely that the deaths of the two Europeans were the result of a murder-suicide committed by the Swiss national.
Police were called to the scene on Saturday after the couple’s friend raised the alarm when she could not enter the property.
The pair had a miniature poodle-type dog who was also found dead in the bedroom of the two-storey property. The deceased man and woman had severe knife wounds to their throats and arms.
The woman was found on the bed, while the man ended up lying on the floor beside her.
It is believed the Swiss man murdered his 40-year-old partner and the dog before taking his own life with a knife.
Police forensic team surveyed the bedroom; investigators noted the couple’s valuables and possessions were left intact and the house locked
A forensic team were called to the scene and found blood and footprint patterns on the floor.
However, investigating officers concluded that there was no sign of violent struggle or the presence of a third party within the property.
Investigators noted that the valuables and possessions of the couple were left intact, and the residence was locked from the inside.
At the same time, an investigation was opened into the deaths and autopsies ordered.
Police officers handling the case said it was too early to rule out some third-party involvement.
Bodies sent for autopsy in Ubon Ratchathani
Police gained entry to the property, on Saturday morning, by reaching out to the landlord and obtaining a spare set of keys.
The bodies of the man and woman were dispatched to Sappasitprasong Hospital in neighbouring Ubon Ratchathani province for an autopsy examination to be carried out after being ordered by investigators.
Afterwards, police interviewed a 43-year-old friend of the couple, who raised the alarm, identified as Ms Suthima Pantho.
The local woman told police that the Swiss man had, at one point, asked her for advice about a possible cannabis oil venture.
A friend of the couple who raised the alarm spoke of a poignant last interaction with the murder victim on Thursday after escorting her to a local market
The two foreigners had lived in the province for approximately five months before Saturday’s tragic news. Miss Suthima told officers she had accompanied the Moldovan woman to a local market on Thursday.
Later on Thursday, she received a kind message thanking her for caring for the pair. Suthima told officers she had replied to the message but did not receive a further response.
Two days later, she decided to visit the home to check on the well-being of the European man and woman, which led to the police being called.
On Saturday, the Phetkasem Foundation, an emergency rescue unit, was called to the home as anxious residents waited outside and assisted police forensic officers who removed the bodies to be taken to Ubon Ratchathani for the post-mortem examinations.
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Further reading:
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American who stabbed his pregnant wife to death attempted to murder his ex-wife in Colorado in 2019
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Pattaya police release grainy CCTV of UK man picking up the woman he later brutally murdered at home
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Probe into death of UK man in Nakhon Ratchasima after his body was found 1 km from trip petrol stop
83-year-old man rescued by a compatriot from a small room where he was fed on rice and water
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