Thread: Pattaya - Dutch murder trial concludes

Two men arrested for brutal murder of Dutch national

Mutilated corpse found in Banglamung rubbish dump
Boonlua Chatree
Two men, including a municipal official, have been arrested and charged with the brutal murder of Jules Marcel Nicol Odekerken, a Dutch News agent and freelance reporter.
Confessed murderer Seksan Pornhommana reenacts the crime for police.
The body of Jules Marcel Nicol Odekerken, 46, was found early Monday morning on November 17 in a rubbish bin behind Bavaria Village in Banglamung. The victim, almost unrecognizable, had been strangled, shot in the back and a large concrete post had been slammed on top of the body, disfiguring most facial features.
Later that day police found the dead man’s bloodstained vehicle on Sukhumvit Road near Central Pattaya. The car was taken to Banglamung police station where forensic teams went through it looking for clues.
Anupong Suthithani, a municipal public works officer in the southern province of Chumporn, denied the charges, but evidence against him is piling up.
Regional police officials became involved after receiving news of the brutal crime. The dead man’s wife, Malissa Pornhommana, her brother, Seksan Pornhommana, and two of their friends were brought in for an interview. They were released but were told not to leave the area.
Following an all night interrogation, Seksan Pornhommana eventually confessed to the crime saying that the instigator was a man by the name of Anupong Suthithani, a municipal public works officer in the southern province of Chumporn. A warrant for the arrest of Anupong aka ‘Daeng’ was immediately issued and he was arrested at his office in Chumporn on November 18 and extradited to Pattaya for questioning.
On Wednesday November 19, Seksan re-enacted the crime and described how he and Anupong strangled the foreigner and transported the body by car to the garbage site. Anupong told police that he agreed to help the municipal officer after ‘Daeng’ had helped clear him of a theft charge in the province of Suratthani a few years ago.
Through a re-enactment of the slaying, Seksan told police how they strangled the man as Anupong drove the car to the dumpsite. However, when Odekerken regained his senses, the foreigner was shot in the back, tossed into the rubbish tip and a large concrete block was dropped on the victim’s head. The car was subsequently abandoned on Sukhumvit Road, near Central Pattaya.
Anupong denied any involvement in the killing; however, he did say that he had stayed at the residence over the Loy Krathong festival to watch the long boat races before flying back to Chumporn for work. Investigating officers say that although he is within his rights to deny the charges, they have enough evidence for a conviction. Anupong has been detained and refused bail.
Seksan explained to police that since Anupong’s involvement in clearing his previous criminal case, the man had become fond of his sister and he suspected that they were lovers. Officers also suspect that another motive for the attack was the fact that Odekerken had a large amount of assets and two life insurance policies in Thailand and abroad, estimated at a total value of around 200 million baht.
The plot thickened as Anupong continued to maintain his innocence, claiming that he did not know the dead man or his wife. Those close to the Malissa Pornhommana told investigating officers a different story, saying that Daeng had a child with Malissa a number of years ago and that he had also threatened to kill her if she did not hand over money and a vehicle.
Police called in on Malissa, Odekerken’s legal wife who told police that the story was in fact true and that Daeng had threatened to kill her in the past. Officers confiscated photos of the pair together as further evidence after which she went into hiding fearing reprisals from Daeng’s dark influences.
The two men have been charged with first-degree murder and if found guilty, they could be sentenced to death.

Pattaya Mail - Vol. XI No. 48 - Friday November 28 - Decvember 4 , 2003 News

When he was killed the police didn't know who he was, so to try to identify him they started to show farangs the crime scene pics, trouble was his head was only 4 inches wide at most so aint many people who were going to recognise him plus they were using pics they had printed from the pc so the quality was really bad, it was lucky that most of the guys clothes and also his shoes were from Holland otherwise it would have taken them days to identify him.