British expatriate murdered in his Chiang Mai home
By Garry | January 27th, 2009 | Category: Chiang Mai, Crime, Hill Tribes, News Reports | No Comments »News reached me over the weekend (24th/25th January) of a British expatriate found brutally murdered in his home in a gated community (with 24 hour security) late last week.
Unfortunately, the news arrived whilst we were in the midst of the heavy end of relocating the business and household and I’ve not been able to prepare a full story yet. I hope to do so during this week, and it will benefit from new information several days after the murder.
At the time of the news reaching me, there were reports that the police had a name for the murderer, and for the two culprits known to have driven off in the deceased’s car during the night of the murder. I don’t yet know if the two incidents are related, nor if the murderer was in the stolen vehicle.
The initial police reports claimed a broken overhead light related to an ethnic Shan tribal belief and ritual that it would aid the murderer’s escape. Other expatriates working with, or married to, Shan persons, related that the Shan they knew had never heard of such a belief or ritual.
Many are pointing out that the light could have been broken during a violent struggle – the victim had severe head injuries and his throat had been cut.
There was evidence claimed, that he had then been smothered with the cloth covering for his piano. The victim was a prominent personality in the local dramatic and music scene.
Sorry to be vague – I’ll be back with more detail in the next day or two as I clear the post-moving legal suff related to moving home and business.
Garry
