Fatal stabbing victim ‘may have known attacker’
POLICE FORCE SEEKS TO REASSURE AFTER MURDER
A 27-year-old woman stabbed to death in her Westminster home ‘likely’ knew her attacker, according to police as the Met sought to reassure Londoners, as speculation swirled over the murder.
The body of Kamonnan Thiamphanit, known to friends as Angela, was found after police forced entry to a property in Stanhope Place at 8.30am on Monday, April 8.
A post-mortem examination carried out on Wednesday, April 10 found the cause of death was sharp force trauma. Kamonnan had dual nationality of Chinese/Hong Kong and Thai and moved to London for work. She was initially graded as a medium risk missing person after her disappearance was reported and as a result the Met has made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Commander Owain Richards said: “We are supporting her devastated family and friends as best we can as they come to terms with their tragic loss. They are overseas and the process of informing them has taken some time as a result.
“To lose a loved one in these circumstances is unimaginable, and our thoughts are with them. We ask that their privacy is respected at this very sad and difficult time.”
Commander Richards told the PA news agency, regarding the IOPC referral: “We received two calls from Kamonnan’s friends on Sunday, April 7, raising concerns that they had not heard from her for some time. One just after 7pm and then another one just after 9.30pm on the Sunday evening. We initially graded the missing person inquiry as a medium-risk, prior to forcing entry and discovering her body on the following Monday morning.
“As her friends had contacted police and then we subsequently found, tragically, the body, we have made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is a standard referral in these cases to understand a review of what happened and whether there’s any lessons to be learned in relation to that.”
A spokesperson for the IOPC confirmed the matter “should be investigated” and “this should be carried out by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards”.
They added: “We advised the force that its investigation should, in our view, review the police response against policy and procedure and identify whether there were any missed opportunities to find Ms Thiamphanit
sooner and potentially prevent her death, however we noted that the timing of her death is unclear at this stage so there may be a possibility that she was already deceased prior to the police being contacted. The force was reminded that should its investigation identify any conduct matters for any officers or staff, then a further referral should be considered.”
Detectives believe Ms Thiamphanit was last seen by her friends on the Sunday. They also believe it was likely she knew her attacker. Mr Richards also confirmed there had been no signs of forced entry before police broke in themselves.