Suspect ‘says he chopped up freezer body’

An American suspect in a passport forgery gang has allegedly admitted he dismembered the body of an eastern European man but did not murder him, city police chief Sanit Mahathavorn says.

Herbert Craig La Fon, one of three suspects, was interrogated overnight until 3am yesterday, said Pol Lt Gen Sanit, adding that investigators have not been convinced by all his accounts.

The dismembered body was found in a freezer in a shophouse in Sukhumvit Soi 56 in Bangkok.

Police believe the man was murdered and are gathering evidence to find who was the killer. Initially, police believed there might have been “two or three people” behind the alleged murder.

Officers reportedly spent 16 hours questioning the 63-year-old suspect, who allegedly admitted he chopped up the body after the man had been killed by his friend, who later died of cancer and was cremated, following a severe quarrel over a huge debt he owed to Mr La Fon.

Mr La Fon is among the murder suspects partly because he is believed by police to have a history of aggressive behaviour including assaulting and detaining other people, including witnesses.

A key witness who once associated with Mr La Fon was invited to meet Phra Khanong police to give information about his allegedly violent behaviour.

Investigators also found that Mr La Fon likes watching violent movies. His favourite will be also used in the consideration of motives behind the alleged killing.

Earlier, a team of Chulalongkorn University forensic specialists, who conducted an autopsy, assumed the victim might have died of a lack of oxygen and/or use of drugs, although an official conclusion has not yet been made.

This assumption matches that of police investigators, said Pol Lt Gen Sanit, adding that police want to wait for the last pieces of evidence — the victim’s dental examination results and fingerprints.

The forensic experts believe the victim was a Hungarian aged between 40 and 50 with a height of 179.5cm.

Investigators believe the man was probably killed in 2007, which was near the time Mr La Fon allegedly bought the freezer, Pol Lt Gen Sanit said.

The freezer, which was used to keep the body parts, was found when police raided an alleged passport forgery gang and nabbed the three suspects on Sept 23 at the shophouse.

Mr La Fon allegedly fired three shots, wounding a tourist police officer.

The other two suspects, who are also US nationals, have been identified as Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33, and James Douglas Eger, 66.

According to a source close to the investigation, Mr La Fon allegedly arranged a talk with the victim to settle his US$60,000 (2.1 million baht) debt before his death. The victim was believed to be part of the passport forgery operation allegedly run by Mr La Fon.

Mr La Fon’s ex-wife, who reported to police investigators to talk about their past relationship, told officers she had no idea about the body in the freezer because she separated from her ex-husband a long time ago.