Spanish businessman Artur Segarra has been arrested in Sihanoukville, Cambodia for the Bangkok murder of his countryman, David Bernat, whose dismembered body parts washed up in the Chao Phraya river last week.
It is thought that Bernat was tortured and asphyxiated prior to being dismembered.
A large sum of money from his Singaporean bank account – in the region of ฿37 million – was transferred to various foreign bank accounts belonging to Segarra, who went on to withdraw large amounts of cash from ATMs in Bangkok and Ayutthaya after Bernat’s death, reports El Mundo.
Segarra was quickly identified by Thai police as the main suspect with his photo subsequently plastered over Thai news desks as they sought to track him down. The 36-year old was last seen in a Surin karaoke bar with his young Thai girlfriend on Friday; he fled the country to Cambodia after locals recognised his face and alerted the police.
He was tracked to a guesthouse in the emerging gambling hotspot of Sihanoukville in southern Cambodia on Sunday night, where he was arrested by Cambodian police, reports Stickboy Bangkok.
Upon Segarra’s arrest. Photo via: Huy Bunleng / Preah Sihanouk Police
Segarra will initially be charged with entering Cambodia illegally before being turned over to the Thai police as the main suspect in their murder investigation.
His girlfriend, 22-year old Pritsana Saen-ubon, was interrogated over the weekend in Thailand as police sought to track Segarra. Although she has maintained that she had no knowledge or any involvement with the killing of Bernat, it is reported that she told police Segarra had instructed her not to open a large freezer in his rented home when she stayed with him at the end of January.
Further reports suggest that a Thai man – a friend of Pritsana – was also arrested on suspicion of assisting Segarra. These reports have not yet been confirmed.
