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Phuket Police are hunting two young men who stabbed and killed an Australian woman on Wednesday night during an attempted bag-snatch in Phuket.
Chalong Police told the Phuket Gazette today (Thurs) they had identified the men, aged 18 to 25, responsible for the attack. They expect to make quick arrests.
Michelle Smith, a travel agent from Perth, aged 60, was with a group of travel agents visiting Phuket to inspect the five-star Kata Thani hotel near Kata beach.
A mother of three, Smith was walking back to her hotel with a friend after dinner when the attack occurred, at about 10.30pm. Two men drove past the women twice before one of them tried to snatch Smith's bag, police said.
Tammee Lee Lynn, who suffered a slash wound to her right arm during the attack, told police Smith struggled to hold on to the bag - which prompted one of them to stab her in the chest. The knife allegedly struck her heart and lung. People rushed to her assistance but she died shortly after at the scene.
The two men fled on their motorcycle, empty-handed.
The drama in Phuket received widespread media coverage Down Under. The Australian newspaper said Smith is survived by three grown-up children - a son and two daughters - plus her husband of 35 years, Geoff, and her 90-year-old mother.
A veteran in the travel industry, she had won many awards and travelled widely. She was said to have loved camping and had even done a bungee jump at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
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nu har de lavet en tegning af den ene gerningsmand og hans motorcykel, pas på derude siger jeg bare hvis du kører Honda og er thai
An arrest warrant was approved yesterday for a man suspected of stabbing to death an Australian woman and wounding her friend last Wednesday in Phuket, and a Bt300,000 reward offered for information leading to his arrest.
The Phuket Court issued the warrant for the suspect pictured in a sketch based on eyewitness accounts and images taken from securitycamera footage. The sketch shows a Thai man 2530 years of age standing 175182 centimetres in height. The suspect is wanted for attempted armed robbery leading to death and injury, and carrying a weapon while travelling without good reason.
Police offered no information about whether there was a sketch of the suspect's accomplice or any other details about the second man, who was seen waiting and whisking the killer away on a motorcycle.
Provincial police chief Pol MajGeneral Chonnasit Watthanawarangkool said it was the responsibility of all police precincts in Phuket, not only Thalang police, whose jurisdiction covers the crime scene, to try to capture the suspect. He called on Phuket residents to cooperate in keeping an eye out for the wanted man and all tipoffs were welcome at his phone number 0818419559.
The officer said police were following a lead that turned up yesterday shortly after the sketch was first made public when a man resembling the figure in the sketch was seen eating at a restaurant in Tambon Karon in Muang district.
Antal indlæg: 3353 Tilmeldt: 03.07.09 Status: Offline
Two arrested for killing of Perth woman'
Police have arrested two suspects wanted for the murder of an Australian travel agent and wounding of her travelling companion in a street in Phuket on Wednesday night, June 20.
Phuket governor Tri Augkaradacha said on Monday that both men were in custody in Chumphon.
They were expected to be returned to the resort island later today, Mr Tri said.
Officials and representatives from the tourism industry met in Phuket this morning to discuss tourist safety.
Last Wednesday, Michelle Smith, a 60-year-old travel agent from Perth, and her friend Tammee Lynn, were walking back to their hotel in the Karon area around 10.30pm after eating at a restaurant when they were attacked by two bag snatchers on a motorcycle.
As Smith struggled to hold on to her bag, one of the men stabbed her in the chest. She walked off and then collapsed and died a short time later at the scene. The motorcycle pair fled empty-handed. http://www.bangko...erth-woman
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A video clip, uploaded to YouTube by thePhuketNews1, shows video footage of two men attempting to steal Smith's handbag.
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Turist myrdet i dansk ferieparadis
En 60-årig australsk turist blev myrdet under et gaderøveri i danskerparadiset Phuket i Thailand
Der var lynchstemning, da to sigtede thailandske mænd deltog i politiets rekonstruktion af mordet på den 60-årige australske turist Michelle Elizabeth Smith, der i sidste uge blev stukket ihjel under et gaderøveri i Phuket.
Et par hundrede mennesker stimlede sammen om Surasak Suwannachote, 26, og Surin Tabthong, 37, der var i håndjern, og råbte skældsord mod dem, fordi mordet skader Phukets omdømme og dermed turismen, som er Phukets vigtigste indtægtskilde.
Politiet lagde en jernring om de sigtede, mens de viste, hvordan de begik det mislykkede gaderøveri - en kriminalitetsform, der er ret almindelig i Thailand.
- Det var et uheld
De mordsigtede har erkendt, at de dræbte Michelle Elizabeth Smith, men at det skete ved et uheld. De ville blot skære stroppen over på hendes taske for at stjæle den:
- Jeg prøvede at skære stroppen over på tasken. Jeg vidste ikke, at kniven faktisk ramte hende. Det fandt jeg først ud af dagen efter, forklarede Surasak Suwannachote. De to mænd kørte op til offeret på en motorcykel og Surasak Suwannachote hoppede af mc´en
En overvågningsvideo viser imidlertid, at han stikker den 60-årige gang på gang med kniven, da hun sætter sig til modværge. Han smider kniven fra sig og flygter uden tasken.
Døde på hospitalet
Michelle Elizabeth Smith gik på gaden sammen med en anden australsk turist Tammy Lee Lynn, 45, der også blev ramt i armen af knivstik. Begge kvinder blev kørt på hospitalet, hvor Michelle Elizabeth Smith døde af knivstik i maven.
I sin tilståelse siger Surasak Suwannachote: - Jeg begik en fejl den dag. Jeg tænkte ikke. Jeg var dumdristig og det løb løbsk. Det var en fejltagelse.
På videoovervågningen ses de to kvinder komme gående på gaden i Karon i Phuket sidste onsdag, da motorcyklen kører op til dem, passageren springer af og stikker dem.
Politiet i Thailand satte deres bedste efterforskere ind i jagten på drabsmændene af hensyn til den vigtige turistindustri. I mandags blev Surasak Suwannachote anholdt i Chumphon provinsen nord for Phuket og i søndags blev Surin Tabthong anholdt i Samut Sakhon udenfor Bangkok.
Antal indlæg: 3353 Tilmeldt: 03.07.09 Status: Offline
det var hurtigt der faldt dom i den sag,
Two men jailed for life for killing an Australian tourist
August 8, 2012 3:58 pm
Phuket : The two men charged with killing 60-year-old Australian tourist Michelle Smith in a bungled bag snatch in Phuket on June 20 have been sentenced to life in prison, Phuket Gazette reported Wednesday.
The sentences were handed down at Phuket Provincial Court this afternoon. The judge presiding over the three-day trial commuted death sentences to lifetime imprisonment after both men pleaded guilty.
Surasak Suwannachote had confessed to stabbing Mrs Smith during a gang robbery, hence causing her death.
Surin Tadthong had confessed to operating the motorbike used in the attack and to disposing of the knife used to stab Mrs Smith.
Antal indlæg: 3353 Tilmeldt: 03.07.09 Status: Offline
Life is not enough, says Michelles husband
PHUKET: The husband of murdered Perth travel agent Michelle Smith has expressed his disappointment that her two killers were not sentenced to death, Watoday.com.au reported.
Surasak Suwannachot and Surin Tadtong were both charged with killing for personal gain, killing in association with one another, carrying weapons in public and conspiracy to commit robbery, after Ms Smith was stabbed during a botched handbag robbery on June 20.
They were initially sentenced to death (see earlier story here) but the two judges commuted the sentence for both men to life imprisonment because they had cooperated with the court and had admitted their guilt.
Mrs Smith’s husband Geoff said he would have preferred the death sentence.
“I thought they might have got the death sentence but life in jail over there is different to life in jail here, I guess,” he told the Watoday website.
Mr Smith said the sentence did little to help him deal with the devastation of losing his wife.
The rapid conclusion to the case – it took just six weeks from Mrs Smith’s death – would help with the healing process, the website reported.
“It doesn’t make it any easier but it’s a step towards closure,” Mr Smith was quoted as saying.
After yesterday’s judgement both men were taken straight from the court to begin their sentences in the Phuket Provincial Prison.
Mrs Smith was stabbed in the evening of June 20 during a botched bag-snatching as she and fellow travel agent Tammee Lynn walked back from dinner to their resort, the Katathani in Kata Noi.
Just about 100 metres from the resort, Surin and Surasak stopped next to them and Surasak tried to grab Mrs Smith’s handbag. She clung on to it, so Surasak got off the bike and, as Ms Lynn came to Mrs Smith’s aid, swung a large knife over his head, stabbing down at the two women.
He then gave up on the robbery, and he and Surin sped off.
Ms Lynn was slashed in the arm, but Mrs Smith was stabbed in the chest, the knife penetrating her heart. By the time the two reached the resort, Mrs Smith was already dying. She expired outside the staff entrance.
A major manhunt was launched, backed by a reward of B300,000 for information leading to the arrest of the duo. Thanks to careful police work, police were able to get their mobile phone numbers and, through these, the men’s whereabouts.
Both were arrested just five days later, Surin in Samut Sakorn, near Bangkok, and Surasak in Chumphon province.
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