Lady of the Hills: English teacher in Thailand denies murdering Thai wife whose remains were found in UK

 

Image: Daily News

 

A British man who works as an English teacher at a university in Thailand has denied murdering his Thai wife, whose remains were found in moorland in England in 2004.

 

The woman’s body was found by walkers Horton-in-Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales in northern England who had unwittingly been posing for photos alongside, without realising what it was.

 

For 15 years, mystery surrounded the identity of the woman, who was dubbed 'Lady of the Hills', and whose case featured widespread coverage in the UK as the authorities attempted to identify her.

 

Because the woman could not be formally identified, despite several media appeals, she was buried in an unmarked grave in Horton-in-Ribblesdale churchyard, where the headstone reads: “The Lady of the Hills. Found 20th Sept 2004. Name Not Known. Rest in Peace.”

 

But due to a breakthrough in DNA, and with the help of the authorities in Thailand, the woman was recently identified as Lamduan Seekanya.

 

Now The Sun reports that police in the UK are investigating Lamduan’s marriage to British man David Armitage, 55, who is now in Thailand where he works as an English teacher at Rajabhat University in Kanchanaburi.

 

David told The Sun: “I didn't kill my wife. Absolutely not.”

 

Last month, following a cold case review and publicity in the Thai media, an elderly couple living in Udon Thani came forward saying they believed the ‘Lady of the Hills’ was their daughter, Lamduan, who they last heard from in 2004 and who had moved to the UK in the 1990s after meeting a British man.

 

Joomsri Seekanya, 72, said her daughter posed a striking resemblance to a sketch issued by police in one of the appeals to identify the ‘Lady of the Hills’.

 

Mrs Joomsri told police her daughter, who had two children with David Armitage, would now be 52, and that contact with her stopped abruptly in 2004, around the time the body of the ‘Lady of the Hills’ was found.

 

Police initially thought the woman, who was found half naked, had died of hyperthermia after becoming lost on the hills. An open verdict was later recorded at an inquest to her death.

 

However, a cold case review in 2016 suggested the woman was killed and police in the UK  investigated the possibility she was a ‘Thai bride’ who had moved to England and was killed.

 

Forensic tests which were not available at the time, later found that Lamduan had spent time living in a rural area of south Cumbria or northern Lancashire.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-03-19

Sounds guilty as hell to me. He told his son that his mother had gone back to Thailand to marry someone else. When the son went years later  to his grandparents in Udon to find his mother the dots began to be connected. 

Sounds like somebody killed her.... and not hypothermia...

 

But I don't read much in the article suggesting or presenting any evidence as to who...

 

Of course, there's also zero mention of the article of what if anything this British guy did in the wake of his wife's 2004 unexplained disappearance. If he did nothing and just quietly ran off to Thailand, that itself would be one indicator of his potential guilt.

 

 

I also think this looks extremely suspicious.

 

Innocent until proven guilty but if I was on the investigating team he would be my prime suspect.  

Sound very fishy Mr David, if my wife went ''missing'' in my home country while I was there then I returned to live in Thailand, even if the parents didn't speak English I would go see them and let them know the kids will be ok and so on. 

Its good that the Thai parents finally know what happened to their daughter. Convicting the UK guy will be hard as its so long ago that almost all evidence will be gone. All this guy has to do is deny it and he might get away with it.

True but this is Thailand, net citizens play a bigger role than evidence, once Big Joke gets a sniff he'll coma knocking!

9 minutes ago, robblok said:

Its good that the Thai parents finally know what happened to their daughter. Convicting the UK guy will be hard as its so long ago that almost all evidence will be gone. All this guy has to do is deny it and he might get away with it.

Thai police have a way of getting confessions. It looks like his own kids will take him down.

"Joomsri said in 2016 Lamduan and David’s son  arrived at their home  to look for his mum. He was marrying  and wanted to invite her to the wedding. Joomsri said: “He said his father had told him Lamduan left him and returned to Thailand to marry someone else.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8666819/lady-of-the-hills-body-identified-murder-investigation/

Thai police interrogation methods should extract a confession quick smart. Huge success rate.

Case closed.

Would have been very telling to see his reaction when he was told that his Wifes body had been identified .

  Was it a kind of "Oh no, she died" and getting upset

or a "Ut-oh , "  and looking worried

Thaigeezer Clouseaus on the case- it will be solved in minutes!

 

i'm just glad the poor woman's family will have a body to grieve and maybe get some closure at last.

 

 

Theres absolutely  no evidence to convict apart from purely circumstantial stuff,

However regardless of guilt or innocence  I would be more concerned re family trying to get even might be worth moving anyway, for self preservation.

  

A shred of evidence might be useful.  Bring him in for questioning.

Well if she left him and went to Thailand she would not have been found in England.

 

Did he report her missing in England?

 

Did he do the usual things you do for a missing person? Like verify they actually left the country?

 

Was she declared dead by being unfound for X number of years?

 

Did England not question his leaving with his wife disappeared?

Edited March 19, 20197 yr by animatic

How many times do we read on this forum that after moving to the UK a Thai wife leaves her husband for another man? Or for whatever reason the wife deserts the husband? Or that the Thai wife has an extramarital affair?

 

Who is to say that didn't happen,  and the other man killed her - if, in fact she was murdered. She could have easily met another man and decided to move back to Thailand before she died. Who is to say that didn't happen. It's entirely believable to me.

Edited March 20, 20197 yr by blackcab
Edited to add clarity

28 minutes ago, pegman said:

Thai police have a way of getting confessions. It looks like his own kids will take him down.

"Joomsri said in 2016 Lamduan and David’s son  arrived at their home  to look for his mum. He was marrying  and wanted to invite her to the wedding. Joomsri said: “He said his father had told him Lamduan left him and returned to Thailand to marry someone else.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8666819/lady-of-the-hills-body-identified-murder-investigation/

Well, maybe she did just leave him for someone else- hardly unknown.

43 minutes ago, robblok said:

Its good that the Thai parents finally know what happened to their daughter. Convicting the UK guy will be hard as its so long ago that almost all evidence will be gone. All this guy has to do is deny it and he might get away with it.

 

Not so sure. There is very strong circumstantial evidence particularly surrounding his behavior when his wife disappeared, what he told his son etc. For instance, did he file a missing person's report with the police? Or if he's sticking to his story that she went back to Thailand to marry someone else, does he have anything to corroborate it. 

Whilst the burden of proof lies with the Prosecution, a British jury are not so easily fooled usually. They would want to know about the detail. 

 

Now there is a body, it is his ex-wife, and that doesn't fit with the story he told his son. I think, if he's questioned by British police officers, his story might change.

Even the newspaper gets it wrong. Lamduan had a child before she met David, so she had three children in total. The couple moved back to Thailand leaving the first child with grandparents in the UK. only to return to the UK again. If the media have got it so wrong, makes you wonder about the conclusions they seem to be drawing.  

9 minutes ago, blackcab said:

How many times do we read on this forum that after moving to the UK a Thai wife leaves her husband for another man? Or for whatever reason the wife deserts the husband? Or that the Thai wife has an extramarital affair?

 

Who is to say that didn't happen,  and the other man killed her - if, in fact she was murdered. She could have easily met another man and decided to move back to Thailand. Who is to say that didn't happen. It's entirely believable to me.

 

Could've been Martians, a werewolf, or a random killing. 

 

But then again, she disappears, her husband invents a convenient story etc etc. If she was going back to Thailand to marry someone else, what was she doing out in the wilds? If she was having an or more affairs, then did her husband know? If so, was that a motive or should he suggest the lover(s) might be guilty?

 

The British police will investigate, and do so thoroughly. In many cases, they will know after interviewing him whether he's lying or not. But at the moment, based on the reporting, he's certainly a major suspect I'd suggest.

6 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Even the newspaper gets it wrong. Lamduan had a child before she met David, so she had three children in total. The couple moved back to Thailand leaving the first child with grandparents in the UK. only to return to the UK again. If the media have got it so wrong, makes you wonder about the conclusions they seem to be drawing.  

Garry a friend of min was a cop in the Netherlands, the times he complained about cases where the media had it totally wrong were numerous. I am talking about cases he was involved in. I don't see why it would be any better in the UK.

 

 

17 minutes ago, animatic said:

Well if she left him and went to Thailand she would not have been found in England.

 

Did he report her missing in England?

 

Did he do the usual things you do for a missing person? Like verify they actually left the country?

 

Was she declared dead by being unfound for X number of years?

 

Did England not question his leaving with his wife disappeared?

 

Indeed, there's a whole raft of questions to be answered.

 

I doubt he filed a missing persons report. Otherwise the police would've connected it when the body was found. I guess he just stuck to his story that she left him to go back to Thailand to marry someone else when people asked where she was.

Just now, robblok said:

Garry a friend of min was a cop in the Netherlands, the times he complained about cases where the media had it totally wrong were numerous. I am talking about cases he was involved in. I don't see why it would be any better in the UK.

 

 

 

It's not any better for sure. Newspapers often quote "unnamed sources" and/or claim its a police officer speaking on the grounds of not being identified. Draw your own conclusions!

 

The tabloids in the UK are particularly good at embellishing things or getting the facts wrong.

52 minutes ago, Lucius verus said:

Thai police interrogation methods should extract a confession quick smart. Huge success rate.

Case closed.

The crime was committed in the UK and has nothing to do with Thailand, all they can do is extradite him if the UK requests that.

1 hour ago, SkyNets said:

True but this is Thailand, net citizens play a bigger role than evidence, once Big Joke gets a sniff he'll coma knocking!

Has she got a brother with a machete? 

29 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Indeed, there's a whole raft of questions to be answered.

 

I doubt he filed a missing persons report. Otherwise the police would've connected it when the body was found. I guess he just stuck to his story that she left him to go back to Thailand to marry someone else when people asked where she was.

Which may be the truth of course. If your wife left you under the alleged circumstances, would you be phoning up to check she is ok?

 

Truth is we haven't any idea, yet some have already pronounced sentence.

1 hour ago, SkyNets said:

True but this is Thailand, net citizens play a bigger role than evidence, once Big Joke gets a sniff he'll coma knocking!

Wouldn't be surprised at all!!  I feel a late night press conference coming on.... with lots of banners and photos of people wearing uniforms!

 

1 hour ago, mommysboy said:

A shred of evidence might be useful.  Bring him in for questioning.

Where and by whom. The Thai police have no basis or evidence and the crime,if any,was committed in uk

1 minute ago, nchuckle said:

Where and by whom. The Thai police have no basis or evidence and the crime,if any,was committed in uk

 

Whatdya wanna bet someone here's not going to be carefully checking his visa status, 90 day reporting status, TM30 status and who knows what else... just looking for a way to send him back to England. I wouldn't be surprised in the least.

 

The police have alot of work  either side to find out who done it.

All over the British media this morning. Pictures of him online. I suspect he will be interviewed very soon.....