An Australian truck driver accused of killing a Thai teenager and concealing her body in a suitcase has pleaded not guilty in court.
Simon Peter Carman, 45, from Perth’s southern suburbs, could face the death penalty if convicted over the alleged murder of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla, who was also known as Cake.
Tunchanok’s naked body was discovered inside a black suitcase beside railway tracks on the outskirts of Pattaya on June 27. She had last been seen alive on CCTV two days earlier, in the foyer of Carman’s condominium complex.
Carman was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport only minutes before he was due to board a Jetstar flight to Perth.
He has maintained that he acted in self-defence, alleging the teenager attacked him with a knife during an argument about money.
On Friday, after the Pattaya Provincial Prosecutor approved four charges—including murder, concealing a corpse and abducting a minor for indecent purposes—Carman appeared in court for the first time and pleaded not guilty to every offence.
According to ABC News, he repeated his claim that he had acted in self-defence and applied for bail, arguing that he was not a flight risk.
Prosecutors opposed the bail request. The case is due to return to court on October 12.
Thai teenager Tunchanok Donhomla was found dead inside a black suitcase near railway tracks on the outskirts of Pattaya.
Perth man Simon Carman has been charged over Tunchanok Donhomla’s alleged murder.
Carman has claimed the teenager attacked him with a knife during an argument over money and that he acted in self-defence.
In August, Carman gave his first interview since being arrested, speaking with ABC’s Foreign Correspondent from Pattaya Remand Prison.
“I feel deeply sad. I obviously wish that it did not happen, but it was unavoidable,” he said.
“All I was trying to do [was] restrain her from stabbing me. Even when I had her pinned down, she still had a lot of force, trying to stab me.”
Carman said he repeatedly told the teenager to “put down the knife” as they struggled, before she eventually “went limp”.
He said he felt deep remorse for Tunchanok’s family, but claimed he did not know she was a minor at the time. He also alleged that she had followed him back to his accommodation.
“I honestly do not know why she followed me home,” he added.
Carman has vowed to contest the charges, saying: “I am hoping and praying that I can get released, if not on bail, because I have done nothing wrong.
“I have not done anything wrong. I shouldn’t be here… I do not understand what’s going on.”
Nine days before her death, Tunchanok travelled about 600km from her home in northern Thailand to the busy city of Pattaya to “see the beach” and visit friends.
Carman was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport just minutes before he tried to board a Jetstar flight to Perth
Carman revealed at the time that the only visitors he had received while behind bars were representatives from the Australian embassy.
As police wrapped up their investigation, an autopsy revealed Tunchanok ‘had a brain injury and she suffocated’.
‘She had no other injuries,’ Colonel Anek Srathongyoo from Pattaya City Police said.
‘We also collected Simon [Carman’s] DNA and matched it to DNA found on Cake’s.’
Nine days before her death, Tunchanok travelled from her home in Thailand’s north, about 600km to the bustling city of Pattaya.
She wanted a holiday to ‘see the beach’ and visit friends, promising her family she would return soon.
Tunchanok had given friends Carman’s address after the pair met up on Jomtien Beach in the early hours of June 25.
A concerned friend reported the teen missing to police the following day and later confronted Carman at his condo after she disappeared.
Police allege Carman had by then suffocated Tunchanok and put her body in a suitcase before abandoning it a short scooter ride away.
A murder conviction in Thailand can result in the death penalty or a jail sentence of 15 to 20 years.
– READ MORE: Heartbreaking new blow for grieving family of Thai teen found dead in suitcase – as they gather to send her ‘back to heaven’
– READ MORE: Australian accused of killing Thai teenager and putting her body in a suitcase speaks for the first time from jail: ‘I don’t understand what’s going on’
