'Pattaya Drum Murder Case' Last Suspect Also Sent to Trial ... Indicted in Custody

The last suspect in his 30s involved in the 'Thailand Pattaya Drum Murder Case' has been brought to trial, resulting in all suspects standing in court.

The Criminal Division 2 of Changwon District Prosecutors' Office, Gyeongnam (Chief Prosecutor Kang Hojun) announced on the 18th that Mr. A, in his 30s, who was arrested on charges of robbery-murder and corpse concealment, has been indicted in custody.

The last suspect in the "Thailand Pattaya Drum Murder Case," who was captured in Hanoi, Vietnam, is heading to Changwon District Court for a detention warrant hearing.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

Mr. A is accused of kidnapping and murdering a Korean tourist in his 30s along with Mr. B and Mr. C, both in their 20s, in Pattaya, Thailand on May 3rd, and dismembering the body before abandoning it in a reservoir.

After the crime, he fled to neighboring countries but was arrested in Hanoi, Vietnam on September 12th and forcibly repatriated to Korea on the 24th of the same month.

Mr. B was caught in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk on May 12th, shortly after the incident, and Mr. C was apprehended in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 14th.

They were each indicted in custody in June and August respectively and are currently on trial together.

Suspect of the 'Thailand Pattaya Drum Murder Case' arrested in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk (left) and suspect forcibly repatriated to Korea after arrest in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

According to the prosecution's investigation, they were making a living by phone financial fraud (voice phishing), but when their earnings became insufficient, they conspired to kidnap a Korean tourist to steal money.

On the day of the incident, at a club in Bangkok, Thailand, they gave the victim a drink containing drugs, and while transporting the intoxicated victim in a prepared vehicle under the pretense of taking them back to their accommodation, they strangled and assaulted the protesting victim, causing death.

After mutilating parts of the deceased victim's body, they placed them in a prepared rubber drum with cement to solidify it and threw it into the Map Prachan Reservoir in Pattaya to conceal the evidence.

They used the victim's mobile phone to transfer 3.7 million won from the victim's account to their own accounts and made threatening calls to the victim's mother demanding ransom, which ultimately failed.

The prosecution plans to do its utmost to ensure that the defendants receive sentences commensurate with the law.