German man murdered in Pattaya
German man murdered in Pattaya
A 59-year-old German national was murdered over the weekend in his home at Thailand’s Pattaya beach resort, Thai police said Monday.
The body of Kurt Schmolke of Lahnstein on the Rhein River in western Germany was discovered Sunday evening when police received reports of a fire at his home in Pattaya, 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok. Schmolke had been stabbed and suffocated, police said.
Found next to the body was a plastic bag containing 500 euros and 30,000 Thai baht (870 dollars), said Major Jakarin Tuasupat of Pattaya’s Banglamung Police Station, who inspected the scene.
Tuasupat suspected Schmolke was killed three hours before the fire by a foreigner, he said in a telephone interview.
A foreign man and a Thai woman reportedly visited Schmolke Sunday and were seen leaving in his car that afternoon.
Neighbours told police that Schmolke, who worked in the German Navy and had a Thai wife, was feuding with a foreigner over stolen belongings, which he had been planning to report to the police.
Schmolke entered Thailand on August 10 although his wife remained in Germany.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
One Response to “German man murdered in Pattaya”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Police nab suspect in German’s murder
Thai police have arrested a German tourist as the chief suspect in the murder of fellow-countryman Kurt Schmolke earlier this week at Thailand’s Pattaya beach resort, Thai police said Wednesday.
Michael Schmidt, 49, from Wurmannsquick, Germany, was arrested Tuesday night after evidence indicated he was the prime suspect in Schmolke’s murder, said Major Jakarin Tuasupat of Pattaya’s Banglamung Police Station.
“Schmidt still claims that he is innocent, although he admitted to being with the victim on the day of the murder,” said Jakarin in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The body of Schmolke, who was from Lahnstein on the Rhein River in western Germany, was discovered Sunday evening when police received reports of a fire at his home in Pattaya, 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok. Schmolke had been stabbed and suffocated.
Schmidt and a Thai woman visited Schmolke Sunday and were seen leaving in his car that afternoon before a fire broke out in his house.
Police suspect Schmidt stole money from Schmolke, although several plastic bags filled with euros and Thai baht were found in his house after the fire.
“The bags of money had been washed out of their hiding places by the firemen’s water hose,” said Jakarin. “We suspect he had hidden a lot more money in the house and Schmidt took it.”