Thai police say two held in frozen body case are American
BANGKOK: Thai police said yesterday that two men accused of hiding a dismembered body in a Bangkok house freezer and of running a fake passport ring are Americans.
The pair were arrested over the weekend along with a third suspect who allegedly opened fire on police during the raid on the shop house they used as a crime den in the Thai capital.
They were caught in possession of multiple passports, a cache of drugs and three guns.
A search of a padlocked freezer found the body of a foreigner chopped into six pieces.
“We confirm two of them are Americans,” said Bangkok’s police chief Sanit Mahathavorn, after several days of liasing with US authorities to identify the men.
Sanit declined to name the men.
The case has gripped the Thai public with its gruesome nature and suggestions of foreign-run crime networks operating in the heart of the capital.
Yet police are still trying to gather firm details including the nationality of the third suspect, named by officers as ‘Peter’, who reportedly shot and injured a policeman during the raid.
“Peter has ten passports. We cannot yet identify his nationality,” said Sanit, adding that police are searching for his Thai wife for more clues.
Forensic officers have yet to identify the man inside the freezer and say it is still unclear how he died and whether he was dismembered before or after death.
The three men have been charged with multiple offences, including concealing a body, forging official documents and attempting to kill an officer on duty. — AFP