SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Photos have emerged showing the squalid and slovenly state of Simon Peter Carman’s apartment in Thailand, where the Australian is accused of murdering a teenage girl.
In the images, empty spirits bottles, WD-40 and bottled water can be seen perched on a small table and fridge, while piles of clothes cover other furniture.
The photos, obtained by the ABC, also show an unnamed friend of Tunchanok Donhomla, 17.
They are understood to have been captured after the teenager went missing, but before her body was discovered inside a suitcase on a remote roadside in Pattaya, about 150 kilometres south of Bangkok.
The brutal manner in which Carman, 45, allegedly killed and discarded Donhomla has rocked both countries.
At the site of the grim discovery, flowers and food bowls left by mourners cover flattened grass on the roadside where the suitcase was dumped.
The case has also highlighted an uncomfortable reality about foreign men who move to or holiday in Thailand for a cheaper lifestyle.
Carman, who was born in Ballarat and has lived in Western Australia, claims self-defence, police say.
He is accused of picking up Donhomla for sex about 3am on Thursday and taking her back to his unit in a multi-tower complex in Jomtien, a satellite area of Pattaya.
People who know him said he had been living in the tower for at least eight months.
Locals said a billiard bar in the Rimhad Jomtien condominium block where the murder allegedly took place was frequented by Carman.
They told AAP Carman often came to play pool at the bar, but they never saw him drink alcohol.
A woman at a restaurant, who asked not to be named over fears of impacts to her business, said she cooked food for him almost every day and noticed a big scar behind his head.
She said Carman had told her he had brain tumour surgery, and that was the reason for his slow speech and gait.
The property is just minutes from Pattaya’s Jomtien beach in southern Thailand, a popular tourist area known for its watersports and nightlife.
The area is where Carman allegedly met Donhomla in the late evening, before leaving together.
Carman is accused of killing Donhomla before attempting to leave Thailand for Perth via the country’s main airport in Bangkok where police arrested him.
Police said they were alerted that Donhomla was missing by a friend who said she had been seen with a foreign man.
A subsequent search of a condominium block where the pair were believed to be led police to Carman and CCTV of the pair arriving together and him allegedly leaving the property alone carrying a large suitcase, according to police.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, police recovered the suitcase off a remote road near the Four Regions Water Market, discovering Donhomla’s naked body inside.
Images of the site where Donhomla’s body was found several metres from a railway track show gifts left by mourners as well as discarded medical gloves and other apparent forensic items.
In footage recorded by police, Carman expressed regret to the girl’s family but also seems to suggest the teen somehow caused or contributed to her death.
“I feel bad for what happened to your daughter – it was out of my control,” he said.
“It shouldn’t happen. Please tell other girls just to be careful.”
Video footage of the Australian shows scratch marks on his neck and arms.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Thailand.
With AAP
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Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
