Beheaded westerner found on Rama VIII bridge

[Spitfire]

Suthep: Beheader must be arrested
By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 23/02/2009 at 04:05 PM Deputy Prime Minister overseeing national security Suthep Thaugsuban on Monday assigned the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwan, to closely investigate the murder case of a western man whose decapitated head was found hanging from Rama VIII Bridge on Sunday.

There is no specific timeframe for this investigation, but the criminal must be arrested, the deputy premier reiterated.

Mr Suthep told the police to look whether local and foreign crime syndicates could be related to the murder.

He believed the case would not affect the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit to be held in Cha-am beginning Friday.

Investigative officer Atcharat Hemanond said the severed head was sent to Siriraj Hospital for identification purposes while the police had coordinated with the International Affairs Division, the Immigration Bureau as well as residential areas, guesthouses and hotels where many foreigners and tourists reside.

Pol Lt-Col Atcharat said the murderer should have a considerable expertise in using sharp objects and may want to humiliate the victim publicly by hanging his head beneath the bridge.

At the same time, the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras set up on the bridge could not capture any unusual incident eight hours before the head was found.

Source - Bangkok Post



The sh** will hit the fan on this! The pressure will be on, big time.

[PeteC]

There were reports in all the papers this morning, farang and Thai. Strange one indeed. Not suicide, killed about 8 hours prior and somewhere else. Cryptic note making little sense with the head, a Nike bag attached also.

I think a syndicate killing may be it. We'll see. Pete

[Sabai Jai]

Not very nice...

Gangland / Mafia or Black Magic killing?

Yes I did say black magic...can't remember the details but some superstitious rites relating to new bridges and Sacrifices?

The practice possibly Chinese in origin?

I remember when they built the 'New' bridge from the Mainland to Phuket there was a big scenario about this kind of thing - but they where killing locals then.

SJ

[PeteC]

Apparently a headless corpse found in the Chao Praya yesterday. The pieces of this crime are starting to come together now Watson. Pete

[PeteC]

From what I'm seeing and reading today, this could very well have been a suicide. As gruesome as it sounds, if you hang yourself from height with 5 meters of slack in the rope, chances are very good that you'll separate your head from body. It happened to one of Sadam Hussein's executed vice presidents in Iraq. The Russian embassy is now involved so appears he could have been Russian. Pete

[Spitfire]

The Russian embassy is now involved so appears he could have been Russian.

Hmmmmmm, bit "murky" IMHO. You might be right Pete, I suppose we won't find out until the background of said Russian fellow is unearthed.
Maybe it's just me but I'm always very sceptical of all these so-called "suicides" you read about everywhere.

You know, how can there be so many "jumpers" from the 5th floor of high hotels in Pattaya each year.

Well, "suicides" is a common euphemism here, IMO.

[PeteC]

This one is just about over. Russian is out, Italian is in. They have a photo from immigration. Also, being ruled a suicide. They found blood splattered on the underside of bridge deck directly above the rope. Pete

[Nereus]

Suicide man's identity revealed
By: BangkokPost.com
Published: 25/02/2009 at 01:49 PM Police believe the Italian man who hanged himself from the Rama VIII bridge committed suicide because of unemployment and illness.

The man had chronic diseases -- he coughed regularly and had a tumor in his stomach, deputy national police chief Jongrak Juthanont told reporters on Wednesday.

Police identified the man as Maurizio Tosabori, 54. He was an architect.

The man was not Giovanni Gaeta as local media reported on Tuesday, Pol Gen Jongrak said.

The identification came after investigators found a hostel owner in Khao San road where Tosabori rented a room.

The owner, Wimon Jongjai, said Tosabori stayed at her hostel for free for two weeks before he disappeared on Saturday after she asked him to vacate the room.

Police checked the room and found Tosabori's belongings, including his passport. A letter was also found in the room. He left a message for Mrs Wimon thanking her for the accommodation and apologising for not paying the rent.

[Spitfire]

Well, well, well, fair enough, sounds genuine. Odd how he managed to get on to the bridge and do all of this without being caught on CCTV or anyone noticing anything at the time.

[raphoedon]

absoloutly bizarre, but it clears things up nicely for the authorities.Is it only me that smells the rat?

[(buffalo) Bill]

None of the armchair sleuths going up to help the police with their enquires then?

[margaretcarnes]

Didn't the original report mention that the head was in a plastic bag? A photo was published as well...
Now I know we have heard some pretty bizarre 'suicides' in LOS, including one who was found with hands tied behind back and a plastic bag over his head as well, but it seems odd that a 'jumper' would first put a bag over his head doesn't it?
Also strange that, unless the bag was secured to the rope, the head didn't also fall into the river?
So unless the unfortunate guy stood on the edge of the bridge, after first attaching the rope and bag, then waited to pass out from semi asphyxiation in order to avoid the actual jump......