Thai woman’s suspected killer fled the UK. Coroner orders return of victim’s body as Scotland Yard pursues extradition proceedings. Disturbing details have emerged in the London murder case.
A coroner sitting at Westminster Coroner’s Court in London on Tuesday ordered the body of murdered Thai woman, Kamonnan Thiamphanit, returned to her family. At the same time, Fiona Wilcox extended her condolences. The decision came after the lead detective from Scotland Yard revealed that the prime suspect in the case had fled Britain. An arrest would certainly take some time. Detective Chief Inspector Alison Foxwell told the coroner that discussions were taking place with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) regarding an extradition. The policewoman, however, declined at this time, to elaborate further on the suspected killer.
Scotland Yard is seeking the extradition of the main suspect in the murder of Hong Kong Thai woman Kamonnan Thiamphanit. Discussions are taking place with the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK.
In the meantime, police are remaining tight-lipped as to the identity of the suspect.
At an inquest into the death of the 27-year-old Thai woman on Tuesday, Coroner Fiona Wilcox made a decision to release the body to her family.
Similarly, she expressed her deepest condolences.
Basis for the decision was the arrest of a suspect or possible defendant was unlikely to occur in a matter of weeks. Extradition proceedings considered
The basis of the decision was that a defendant in the case was unlikely in a matter of weeks. Therefore, a request for a second autopsy would not emerge in the legal time limit.
‘It is very unlikely that I am going to get a request from a defendant for a second post-mortem within 28 days of death, so I will release the body,’ Professor Wilcox concluded. She had just heard evidence from the lead detective working on the case.
‘We have a named individual. I think it unlikely that the person will be arrested in the next two weeks,’ explained Detective Chief Inspector Alison Foxwell. ‘We are asking the CPS whether we have sufficient evidence to extradite someone from outside the UK.’
Police will only confirm that the suspected killer was well known to the Thai woman and was admitted to the property by her on Friday, April 6th at 6.15 am
DCI Foxwell appears to have taken over the case after it was initially being handled by DCI Adam Clifton as lead investigator.
It is also not clear if the main suspect was Ms Kamonnan’s boyfriend. Police have, however, confirmed that the killer was known to the Thai woman.
‘We believe that the person who attacked her was known to her, this isn’t a stranger attack but at some point after the 6th of April at 6.15 am, she was attacked in the address and sustained a number of stab injuries,’ disclosed DCI Foxwell to the inquest. ‘We are currently seeking the perpetrator but cannot give much more information about that at this stage, I’m afraid.’
Sources suggest that police have retrieved the CCTV footage from the entrance to 6 Stanhope Place in the Bayswater area of Westminster. In turn, this has given them a positive identification of the prime suspect in the case.
Police suggested Angela did not have a boyfriend. However, her cousin in Thailand insisted she had. Due home in Ratchaburi, she suddenly changed plans
Nevertheless, from the evidence on Tuesday, police suggested that the Thai woman did not have a boyfriend.
However, this was countered by her cousin in Thailand Ms Nutcha Tiempanich, 28. Ms Nutcha told reporters this week that she spoke to Angela, the murdered woman on March 31st. In effect, 8 days before her murder.
In short, Ms Kamonnan or Angela had been previously planning on returning to Rachaburi. She nearly had her plane ticket booked but something occurred at the last minute. Ms Nutcha was adamant this week that her cousin had a boyfriend.
She explained that she was due to return for the Qing Ming festival, a Chinese celebration which honours the dead. The Tomb Sweeping Festival ran this year from March 20th to April 18th.
Coroner’s court testimony from DCI Foxwell at one point proposed that the Thai woman was murdered in the early hours of April 8th after calls to police
At the inquest on Tuesday, DCI Foxwell also suggested that the Thai woman may only have bren attacked on April 8th. in the early hours of Monday morning.
This was after the previously reported calls to the police on Saturday, April 7th by a concerned friend. These calls were logged at 7.05 pm and 9.34 pm respectively
Subsequently, police interviewed local residents nearby who reported ‘strange’ and ‘high-pitched’ screams overnight.
That was before police discovered the body of Ms Kamonnan at 8.30 am when they broke down the door.
Screams in the night heard as London police probe the horrific murder of a young Thai woman at a listed property
Previously, it is understood that the 1820’s Georgian property was the scene of a loud party on Friday night 6th April. Similarly, neighbours noted a racket that night.
Afterwards, London’s Metropolitan Police reported itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). This decision was taken under strict best practices protocol. The watchdog was asked to investigate the delay in the police response.
This came after the phone calls made by a friend expressing concern for the Thai woman’s safety.
‘Highly unlikely’ anyone will be imminently charged with the murder, lead police investigator disclosed
Before that, police had categorised the calls as a medium risk, missing persons case.
‘At some point on April 8, she was attacked, which caused her death. We have a named individual we are looking for at this moment,’ DCI Foxwell told Westminster Coroner’s Court. She was therefore asked about the prospect of a suspect being charged.
‘I think it unlikely anyone will be imminently charged. We are requesting with the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) whether we have sufficient evidence to extradite someone from outside the UK, so I think it unlikely.’
Angela or Kamonnan went to live in London in 2016 to study graphic design.
The young woman was a frequent traveller to visit her extended family in Ratchaburi in Thailand in the meantime.
‘Beautiful’ Thai woman was popular and well-liked. She had lived in London for eight years and was engaged in property management in the British capital
Described as particularly friendly and outgoing, one of her former employers on Wednesday in London recalled her fondly. Ally Pasprates is the General Manager of the Southgate Hotel in North London.
‘She was beautiful. She could speak lots of languages. I hired her as a receptionist and she was really, really good. Really people-orientated. She fitted into London. No one could hate that woman,’ she told The Times.
The Thai woman, up to April 8th, was understood to be working in property management.
Angela had rented out the former Ethiopian Embassy in Bayswater, as an AirBNB let. The property had an estimated value of £3.1 million.
It is a highly fashionable area to live in. It was adjacent to Connaught Square, where residents previously included former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Identified only by her dental records after stab wounds
It is also understood that Ms Kamonnan, who suffered multiple stab wounds, was identified by dental records. UK authorities have been in communication with her family in Thailand.
It is not known what nationality the suspect is.
However, if the murder accused is Chinese or a Hong Kong resident, then no extradition will be possible. The United Kingdom scrapped its extradition treaty with China and its former colony in July 2020.
In short, this came in response to Beijing’s controversial security law being enacted in the territory.
The UK government saw it as a violation of international treaty obligations relating to Hong Kong.
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Further reading:
UK beauty spot may have disguised the grim murder of a Thai bride from Udon Thani for over a decade
Sadistic murderer ‘Ice Metal Casket’ sentenced for rape of a woman at gunpoint in latest conviction
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