🚨 HE RECOUNTED EVERYTHING HOUR BY HOUR… AND NOW, THE DETAILS FROM INSIDE THE ROOM WHERE THE THAI TEENAGER DIED ARE GRADUALLY COMING TO LIGHT
It was in the early hours of the morning when Australian truck driver Simon Carman wandered along the palm-fringed waterfront at Jomtien Beach.
The family-friendly resort on the outskirts of Pattaya rarely sleeps.
By day, the sweeping stretch of sand is filled with jet skis skimming across the Gulf of Thailand as families relax beneath beach umbrellas.
But after dark, the atmosphere changes.
Bars begin to fill, drinks start flowing and the beachfront becomes a well-known meeting place for sex workers and tourists.
It was here that 17-year-old Tunchanok ‘Cake’ Donhomla’s chance encounter with Simon Carman, 45, would ultimately end in tragedy.
The Daily Mail has spoken exclusively with a Thai source familiar with the investigation, who revealed the full account Carman provided police about what he claims happened that evening.
His claims are yet to be tested in court but serve as a vital piece of the puzzle, with authorities probing his story for inconsistencies.
Arrested as he tried to fly from Bangkok to Perth, a defeated-looking Simon Carman, 45, stands handcuffed with officers late on Friday, June 26, before being taken to the police station
Carman is being charged with murdering 17-year-old Tunchanok ‘Cake’ Donhomla. He has made admissions he killed her accidentally, but his version of events remains untested in court
It has been claimed that Carman – who moved to Thailand 10 months ago, having previously visited for more than a decade – had spent part of the evening drinking at a nearby bar and, after being rejected by another woman, he walked home alone.
However, Carman told investigators he had simply ‘been out on one of the late-night walks’ he regularly took, according to our source.
As he passed the local night market, according to Carman’s version of events, Ms Donhomla approached him, along with two ‘ladyboy’ friends, offering sexual services. ‘Ladyboy’ is a term widely used in Southeast Asia to refer to transgender women but is considered a slur elsewhere.
Carman said he declined the approach, telling them he just wanted to be left alone, but claimed that the teen slipped her hand into his and continued alongside him.
Less than 20 minutes later, at 3.34am on Thursday, June 25, CCTV footage captured the pair entering the lobby of Carman’s nearby condominium building, walking past the night security guard and disappearing into the lift together.
According to investigators, the teenager sent messages to friends shortly after arriving, letting them know that she had reached the apartment safely.
Inside, the unit was cramped and cluttered. It wasn’t the sort of luxury accommodation sometimes associated with rich, older Western men who treat Thailand like a playground in early retirement.
Every available surface was crowded with empty alcohol bottles, scattered paperwork, toiletries and an assortment of personal belongings.
The Daily Mail has spoken exclusively with a Thai source familiar with the investigation and has also obtained previously unreleased police photos of Carman’s apartment
In one of the frames, a plastic tub stuffed full of women’s underwear and a clutch purse is visible. Why these items would be in the apartment of a single man is unclear
According to investigators, the teenager sent messages to friends shortly after arriving, letting them know that she had reached the apartment safely
According to our source, Carman told authorities that the pair ‘sat on the edge of the wooden double bed’ (right). In Carman’s version of events, they began to negotiate a price using Google Translate – before the situation dramatically escalated
The floor was strewn with laundry baskets, cosmetic bags and, bizarrely, we can reveal, a plastic tub stuffed full of women’s underwear and a clutch purse.
Why these items would be in the apartment of a single man is unclear.
At first, Carman told authorities that the pair ‘sat on the edge of the wooden double bed and it was only then that the conversation turned to money’, said the source.
Unable to speak Thai, and with Ms Donhomla speaking only basic English, the pair allegedly relied on the Google Translate app to negotiate both the price and what services would be provided.
Carman claims the arrangement then unravelled when Ms Donhomla changed her mind. She said she wanted to leave and asked him for 500 baht, the equivalent of about AU$21.80.
The next claim he makes is Carman’s biggest.
He told police that, as he opened his wallet, stuffed with about 20,000 baht (AU$870), the teenager – who weighed just 40kg (6st 4lb) and was 150cm (4ft 11in) tall – suddenly pulled out a flick knife, held it to his throat and demanded all of the money.
Carman then says he panicked, grabbed her by the wrists and claims that when she didn’t stop fighting him, he placed his hands around her neck.
The knife story seems to be the basis of a possible self-defence claim by Carman.
Carman’s account to police, relayed to the Mail via a reliable source in Pattaya, seems to be the basis of a possible self-defence claim. He has allegedly admitted to gripping Ms Donhomla’s (pictured) neck, telling police he hadn’t realised how tightly he had been holding her
At 3.34am, CCTV captured the pair entering the lobby of Carman’s nearby condominium building, walking past the night security guard and disappearing into the lift together
The girl’s distraught parents travelled to Pattaya from northern Thailand to collect her body
The accused killer told authorities that, still gripping Ms Donhomla’s neck, he quickly weighed his options.
Going to the police was not among them. He supposedly ‘did not trust Thai authorities after previously being caught drink driving on three occasions’.
He believed that any interaction with police would end badly and feared that officers would use the teenager’s presence in his apartment as grounds to fine or prosecute him.
He had another reason not to want to draw attention to himself:Â Carman was living in Thailand on a student visa, an arrangement frequently used by expatriates to remain in the country when they have no legitimate basis for a longer-term stay.
There is no evidence Carman was actively studying at the time of his arrest.
On June 27, police inspected the suitcase where they recovered the teenager’s body
Surrounded by police, Carman rests his head in his hands on June 28
Eventually, Ms Donhomla stopped struggling and collapsed to the floor. Carman now claims to police that he hadn’t realised how tightly he had been holding her.
By way of explanation, our source claims he told investigators he had forgotten to take medication prescribed for a nerve condition affecting his brain, which he says can impair his judgement.
When he realised Ms Donhomla was no longer moving, talking or breathing, he knew that she was dead.
What allegedly followed was the grisly task of placing the girl’s tiny body into a 29-inch (74cm) suitcase before he placed the knife on top of his fridge and went to bed.
SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15949053/hotel-room-simon-carman-thailand-murder-cake-pattaya-suitcase.html
