British woman stabbed to death in Phuket

[HarryHacker]

British woman stabbed to death in Phuket

PHUKET: -- A 31-year-old British woman has been found stabbed to death on the Thai holiday island of Phuket.

The victim is believed to have arrived in Thailand three days before to visit an ex-boyfriend.

Thai police are now understood to be searching for a 32-year-old British man in connection with her murder.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the victim's identity could not be confirmed as next of kin have not been informed.

--BBC 2005-08-03

[sriracha john]

Here she is named:

From The Sun

By JOHN ASKILL

A PRETTY teacher was found butchered in her blood-soaked bedroom on a paradise isle in Thailand yesterday.

Blonde Deborah O’Hallon, 31 — who had flown out three days ago to visit her ex-boyfriend — was stabbed to death in what police said was a “frenzied” attack.

[Eric Davis]

Boyfriend hunted after Thai killing

Police in the southern Thai resort of Phuket said they were seeking a British man suspected of killing his girlfriend, who was also British.

The victim, a 31-year-old woman from Nottingham, was found dead in her rented room in Phuket's Kratoo district on Tuesday afternoon, said police Col. Theeraphol Thipchareon.

She had a broken neck and stab wounds in the back of her head, with bruises over her face and body, he said, adding that she apparently struggled with her attacker before she died.

http://www.scotsman.com/?id=1721712005

[Eric Davis]

British woman in Thai stab death

A 31-year-old British woman has been found stabbed to death on the Thai holiday island of Phuket.

The victim is believed to have arrived in Thailand three days before to visit an ex-boyfriend.

Thai police are now understood to be searching for a 32-year-old British man in connection with her murder.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the victim's identity could not be confirmed as next of kin have not been informed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4740679.stm

[remmy]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how Thaivisa user will ridicule thai people here.

[bannork]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right on Remmy, the outraged users would be screaming it's open season on farangs, the killing fields are here; however in this case Deborah seems to have been murdered by her fellow Brit, a big dude by all accounts, who had acquired a Thai girlfriend and opened a bar on Phuket.

The tsunami put paid to that however, and according to 'The Daily News' he asked Deborah for 100,000 baht. But Deborah had got wind of his Thai girlfriend and consequently refused, then the violence began.

[Buff-horns]

Police hold dead Briton's partner

A Briton sought in connection with the brutal killing of his British girlfriend in the southern resort island of Phuket has been taken into custody and hospitalised after slashing his wrists in an apparent suicide attempt, Thai police said.

Police earlier said they had been seeking Paul Chetwynd-Talbot as a possible suspect in the killing of 31-year-old Debra O'Hanlon.

The battered body of O'Hanlon had been found on Tuesday in the guest house room she had been renting. She had a broken neck, stab wounds in the back of her head, and bruises all over her face and body, said police Col Theeraphol Thipchareon, who added that it appeared she had struggled with her attacker.

Lt. Padungpong Duksukkaew said Chetwynd-Talbot had been taken into custody, though he did not reveal under what circumstances he was found.

He said Chetwynd-Talbot had slashed his wrists in what the Briton described as a suicide attempt, and was being treated in a local hospital.

Theeraphol said witnesses had seen the couple having a heated quarrel a few days before her body was found.

Friends of the victim had reported O'Hanlon, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, missing after she failed to keep an appointment on Sunday.

Police found her body in her hotel room on Tuesday, the day the couple was scheduled to fly back to England.

According to police investigators, the couple used to operate a bar in Phuket, a popular beach destination for Western travellers, but their business collapsed after December's Indian Ocean tsunami hit the area, killing thousands of people and crippling the tourist trade.

The couple then returned to England, but Chetwynd-Talbot returned to Phuket in May to rebuild his business and O'Hanlon joined him last month.

source.virginnews.com

[sriracha john]

Update (with some previous details omitted):

Boyfriend held over murder at island resort

By Sebastien Berger in Bangkok and Nick Britten

(Filed: 04/08/2005)

A former public schoolboy was being held by police in Thailand last night over the murder of a primary school teacher on the island resort of Phuket.

After a 24-hour search, police found Paul Chetwynd-Talbot covered in blood after he had slashed his wrists in an apparent suicide attempt.

The manhunt began in the early hours of Tuesday after the battered body of Debra O'Hanlon, 31, was discovered in a guest house in Patong.

He was taken into custody shortly before midnight local time yesterday and immediately taken to hospital.

The couple used to run the Red or Dead bar in Patong. However, the business collapsed after the tsunami and Miss O'Hanlon returned to work in Britain.

She flew back to Thailand on Saturday, her birthday, in an attempt to bring Chetwynd-Talbot back to England.

But he refused. In the hours before the murder, the couple were heard arguing noisily in the guest house where Miss O'Hanlon was staying.

They failed to turn up for a barbecue with friends on Sunday, who alerted the police when they still could not contact them the following day. Miss O'Hanlon's body was found at 2am on Tuesday.

Suwit Othong, a police colonel, said: "There was blood all over the room and hand prints made in blood on the walls, a towel, and a wash basin. Her money and credit cards have gone."

Two return tickets to England for August 2 were found in her luggage.

The officer heading the investigation, Captain Padungpong Dukesukkhaen, added: "She tried to convince him to go back and stay together in England. The body was found beaten to death. We didn't find wounds from any weapons. An autopsy showed she had a broken neck, jaw, and occipital bone."

Officers believe that Miss O'Hanlon put up a fierce struggle for her life, and could have been killed up to 24 hours before being found at the Ericsson guest house.

The couple's business had been in the heart of Patong's red light district.

It went under when the tourist trade collapsed following the tsunami.

They flew back to England and Miss O'Hanlon got a job as a primary school teacher at Kings Cliffe Endowed School in Peterborough, Cambs.

She was due to start work soon as the deputy head of Wollaston School in Wellingborough, Northants. However, Chetwynd-Talbot returned to Thailand within a month.

According to friends he took a job as a short-order cook in a diner called Fat Boy, met a Thai girlfriend and fell into debt.

One expatriate, who did not want to be named, said: "Debs had been out here this year and she gave him some time to sort himself out.

"She was completely besotted with him. She arrived on her 31st birthday. They were all over each other."

Immigration authorities say there is no trace of him leaving the country and police said they found his passport in Miss O'Hanlon's room.

Miss O'Hanlon's father, Malcolm, from Wellingborough, Northants, said yesterday that he doubted Chetwynd-Talbot would ever return to Britain.

Her neighbours in Kettering said she was "always happy and jolly".

One said: "She was in Thailand when the tsunami hit but I didn't know she had gone back.

"She was such a nice girl, very bubbly, and a really nice neighbour. She said she had got this new job and was quite excited."

Rachel Dempster, the head teacher at Kings Cliffe Endowed School and the former deputy head teacher at Woodnewton Junior School, said: "Debra was a talented, powerful and gifted teacher.

"She had everything to live for. She had worked for me since Easter at Kings Cliffe, and was a very committed, dedicated teacher who will be very sadly missed."

A spokesman from Northamptonshire county council said: "We are all deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Debra's death.

"Debra was highly regarded for the work she did as a teacher in Northamptonshire.

"We were looking forward to Debra taking up her new post in September. At this terrible time all our thoughts are with her family and friends."

A spokesman for the British embassy in Bangkok would not comment on the circumstances surrounding her death. He said: "We are in contact with the Thai authorities but we cannot confirm details of the ongoing police investigation."

[sriracha john]

www.mirror.co.uk

She celebrated her birthday with him and other friends and later rang her parents, asking them for £1,500 for Chetwynd-Talbot. They refused.

A friend of Miss O'Hanlon, Sefton Hanley said: "We are all stunned. I was at Deb's birthday party at the weekend at the diner where Paul works. She would have done anything for Paul." Police found the body after friends reported her missing.

A Thai police spokesman said of the ex-boyfriend: "We believe he tried to cheat her out of money and she refused. We do not think he intended to return to England.

"He had left his ticket behind. He just took a ticket to Bangkok. We believe he just needed this woman for the money to continue his life here. But she probably refused."

Chetwynd-Talbot is the family name of the Earl of Shrewsbury, whose seat is Wanfield Hall, Staffs.

The earl's brother, Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, who lives in Grateley, Hants, said yesterday that he had nothing to do with the man arrested in Thailand.

He added: "Quite often I get called by debt collection agencies asking for Paul Chetwynd-Talbot."

[george]

Update from Phuket Gazette:

O’Hanlon murder suspect surrenders

PATONG: -- Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, sought for the murder of his girlfriend, Debra O’Hanlon, who was found dead on Tuesday afternoon (see story here), turned himself in to the police last night.

Pol Col Teeraphol Tipjaroen, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, told the Gazette that Talbot had come to the front of the police station at about 8pm last night and had sat there doing nothing until a police officer asked him if he needed something.

“The officer walked up to him and asked whether he wanted to report something to the police and he said, yes, he was the one who had killed Debra,” Col Teeraphol said.

“He said that he had tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists after he killed Debra in the room [the couple were sharing in Nanai Rd].

“This explains why we found so much blo od at the scene of the murder. There were deep wounds in his wrists, the tendons were slashed and he had lost a lot of blood. He looked a wreck; no one could recognize him,” Col Teeraphol added.

Col Teeraphol said that Chetwynd-Talbot, when asked where he had been since the murder, told police that he had been sitting on the beach or walking aimlessly along the sand.

He was charged with murder and taken for treatment at Wachira Phuket Hospital. This morning he was transferred to Kathu Police Station.

The Times newspaper in Britain has reported that the accused man is a member of the family of the Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Henry John Benedict Crofton Chetwynd Chetwynd-Talbot, and described him as the “black sheep of the family”.

Chetwynd-Talbot is, according to The Times report, not a blood relative of the Earl, but received the family name “through a female member o f the clan”.

His namesake, Paul Alexander Anthony Bueno Chetwynd-Talbot, told the newspaper, “He has been the bane of my life for years. Every time he runs up a debt, people come on to me about it.

“He is a thoroughly bad lot who has gone round causing a lot of trouble. I have never met this character,” he continued.

“I have had telephone calls from people on whom he has bounced checks, which is always extremely annoying.”

Friends of the couple, speaking to the Gazette yesterday before he surrendered, said that they believed Chetwynd-Talbot had debts in Phuket of around 100,000 baht.

Pol Maj Gen Suwit Othong, Phuket Provincial Police Commander, was quoted in The Times as saying that investigators believe that Chetwynd-Talbot had tried to cheat Ms O’Hanlon out of money.

However, a friend of the couple, speaking to the Gazette before the arrest said, “The idea that [the murder] was in any way for financial gain i s just out of the question.

“They would have shared whatever they had. Whatever she had, he could – in a pinch – have persuaded her to share with him, and vice versa.”

--Phuket Gazette 2005-08-04

[kat]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, I just want justice for the womanizing, brutal thief who murdered her. Domestic violence happens everywhere, and Thailand sure ought to know, with an apporximately 50 percent domestic violence rate.

[Considered Opinion]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No, I just want justice for the womanizing, brutal thief who murdered her. Domestic violence happens everywhere, and Thailand sure ought to know, with an apporximately 50 percent domestic violence rate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bit of a pity he stopped where he did, since there are so many British Men he could have killed as well..

[Scott]

Very sad for all concerned.

[Thomas_Merton]

Man admits holiday island killing

The former boyfriend of a British teacher who was stabbed to death in Thailand has reportedly confessed to police, the BBC has learned.

The body of Debra O'Hanlon, 31, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, was found at a guesthouse in Phuket on Tuesday.

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, 32, from Bristol, gave himself up to police at 8pm Thai time on Wednesday, said BBC Asian Correspondent Jonathan Head.

He had earlier attempted to slash his wrists after the death, police said.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4744359.stm

[The_Moog]

Is the alleged perpetrator an Aristocrat, or not?

Its unclear - he seems to have the same name, but the posh family in question say he isn't.

The only reason this is a story in the UK is this contingent Class issue. If he was a hoodie with an ASBO the papers wouldn't be so interested.

[Dove]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said Remmy.

Now where have all the righteous Farangs gone? Where is the outcry for a fair trial? Where are all the long emails making wild accusations?

What a difference a Farang murderer makes? Some kind of farang justice eh?

[khall64au]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said Remmy.

Now where have all the righteous Farangs gone? Where is the outcry for a fair trial? Where are all the long emails making wild accusations?

What a difference a Farang murderer makes? Some kind of farang justice eh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

SHOCK May have something do with it?!

[Sumitr Man]

'I was drunk' says Phuket killer

PHUKET: -- The former boyfriend of a teacher found dead in Thailand has told the BBC he killed her when he was drunk.

The body of Debra O'Hanlon, 31, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, was found at a guesthouse in Phuket on Tuesday.

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot, 32, of Bristol, who gave himself up to police on Wednesday, said they were both drunk when they had a "stupid" argument.

He told BBC East's Sally Chidzoy he believes Miss O'Hanlon's neck broke when he threw her on a bed.

"Ten minutes earlier we were with friends laughing and joking in the pub. The room in which she was found in was covered in blood - all of that blood was mine. I didn't want to carry on living.

"What I've done can't be put into words.

"We were both drunk. It was just a stupid argument. I walked towards the bathroom, she slapped me, I grabbed her hand and tossed her onto the bed. Her face hit the headboard, I think I broke her neck."

He said if he had to spend the rest of his life doing something to try and make Miss O' Hanlon's life worthwhile, he would.

After Mr Chetwynd-Talbot was arrested Thai police said he had tried to slash his wrists after Miss O'Hanlon's death.

On Thursday morning, BBC Asia correspondent Jonathan Head said: "Thai police are saying he came into the police station and admitted he'd beaten her.

"Apparently he was quite distraught and had slashed his wrists some time before."

He remains in police custody in hospital.

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot was a former boyfriend of Debra O'Hanlon

Police said Miss O'Hanlon, who taught at a school in Cambridgeshire, had a broken neck and stab wounds to the head.

Officers said it appeared that she had struggled with her attacker in the beach resort of Patong.

Friends of Miss O'Hanlon reported her missing after she failed to keep an appointment on Sunday. She had been due to fly back to Britain on Tuesday.

On Wednesday Miss O'Hanlon's father, Malcolm, said the family was too distressed to speak about her death.

Her mother Patricia and sister Julie were being comforted at the family home in Wellingborough.

--BBC 2005-08-05

Edited August 5, 2005 by george

[kat]

"We were both drunk. It was just a stupid argument. I walked towards the bathroom, she slapped me, I grabbed her hand and tossed her onto the bed. Her face hit the headboard, I think I broke her neck."

'oh yeah, and then after that, I think I broke her jaw and stabbed her in the head several times - unintentionally, of course.'

I hope this useless scumbag gets what he deserves and then some.

My condolences to her family and friends.

Edited August 5, 2005 by kat

[Laulen]

I walked towards the bathroom, she slapped me, I grabbed her hand and tossed her onto the bed.

Paul Chetwynd-Talbot

And here is a picture of him with his former girlfriend,

and another of him, after her death.

Edited August 5, 2005 by Laulen

[boris]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said Remmy.

Now where have all the righteous Farangs gone? Where is the outcry for a fair trial? Where are all the long emails making wild accusations?

What a difference a Farang murderer makes? Some kind of farang justice eh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In all seriousness the logic of these posters is hard for me -and I suspect everyone- to understand.Can they make their points a little more clearly.

[Kringle]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how Thaivisa user will ridicule thai people here.

Bit of a pity he stopped where he did, since there are so many British Men he could have killed as well..

So are you one of these &lt;removed&gt; fanatics that thinks all Brits (and whoever else you consider to be an infidel) should be killed. Maybe you are just a supporter of actions of this type. You're a sick a$$hole and should be banned for such comments. You are beyond getting a grip but gag anyway on your own sh1t.

[bannork]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said Remmy.

Now where have all the righteous Farangs gone? Where is the outcry for a fair trial? Where are all the long emails making wild accusations?

What a difference a Farang murderer makes? Some kind of farang justice eh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In all seriousness the logic of these posters is hard for me -and I suspect everyone- to understand.Can they make their points a little more clearly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remmy's point is that if Deborah had been killed by a Thai the following posts would have consisted of comments such as:' Thai men are so dangerous,' violence is always just below the surface', 'one unintended slight and you're carved up',etc.

But when it's a coked-up or drunk Englishman there's no sense of horror. Perhaps to be expected is the sad conclusion.

Thais are held to higher standards, and quite rightly;for as mentioned, mindless violence is rare in LOS.

Look at that moron, the football player from Man City,Barton his surname, sent home for fighting with an Everton fan in Bangkok; now his brother is on a murder rap having killed a black in Liverpool with an axe. Cancel their passports Tony Blair, please.

Justice is not the issue here.

[jomama]

"Look at that moron, the football player from Man City,Barton his surname, sent home for fighting with an Everton fan in Bangkok; now his brother is on a murder rap having killed a black in Liverpool with an axe. Cancel their passports Tony Blair, please."

I agree...going out in Thailand is nothing like being an outsider in some British pubs at certain hours.

But there is a distinction between domestic violence and recreational violence. In the Brit's case it might be considered manslaughter. In the case of the Bhutanese man who was stabbed to death in BKK (allegedly for no reason) it should be considered murder.

I don't defend the British guy at all, but diminished capacity (loaded, lost control, heat of passion, etc.) might indicate to a jury that he didn't really mean to do it. Sorry if I sound like a lawyer, but I used to cover these kinds of things for the press. The law does make a distinction between cold blooded murder and "hot blooded" murder (many times ruled manslaughter), and I believe that's true in Thai law as well.

(What I think really got the policeman in Kanchanaburi was the execution of the girl, so he could not argue self-defense or diminished capacity).

Of course anyone who kills someone has "diminished capacity" of some kind or they would do it or be in that position to begin with IMO.

I'm truly sorry for her an her family and don't mean to lessen the sadness and loss .... but its not the same as thug violence.

[The_Moog]

What was he doing with a lady falang with so many mint TGs around ??

I'm truly sorry for her an her family and don't mean to lessen the sadness and loss .... but its not the same as thug violence.

But when it's a coked-up or drunk Englishman there's no sense of horror.

This is an awful, devastating incident for this girl and her bereaved family, and the above words from these three are inappropriate.

If I wasn't down to my last warning i'd be more trenchant about comments like these

[JemJem]

Mooq....regarding the stuff above that you quoted, I don't know about the other two posters but the one who posted the first one, Nam Kao, has continuously posted racist stuff (and probably unfortunately got away with it every time) in some other threads, so this kind of inapproprate stuff coming from him has not surprised me at all.

As for the killer guy.....I think there is hardly any doubt that this guy will be found guilty and I wonder how many years he will spend in jail and I wonder how long of that will be in Thailand (it is likely that he will serve some part of his sentence in the U.K.).

Later,

Jem

Edited August 5, 2005 by JemJem

[boris]

If she were killed by Thai I cant imagine how  Thaivisa user  will ridicule thai people here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well said Remmy.

Now where have all the righteous Farangs gone? Where is the outcry for a fair trial? Where are all the long emails making wild accusations?

What a difference a Farang murderer makes? Some kind of farang justice eh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In all seriousness the logic of these posters is hard for me -and I suspect everyone- to understand.Can they make their points a little more clearly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remmy's point is that if Deborah had been killed by a Thai the following posts would have consisted of comments such as:' Thai men are so dangerous,' violence is always just below the surface', 'one unintended slight and you're carved up',etc.

But when it's a coked-up or drunk Englishman there's no sense of horror. Perhaps to be expected is the sad conclusion.

Thais are held to higher standards, and quite rightly;for as mentioned, mindless violence is rare in LOS.

Look at that moron, the football player from Man City,Barton his surname, sent home for fighting with an Everton fan in Bangkok; now his brother is on a murder rap having killed a black in Liverpool with an axe. Cancel their passports Tony Blair, please.

Justice is not the issue here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK thanks for the explanation, though I think most of us feel a sense of horror whoever commits these awful acts.

[NedKelly]

Interesting to note that someone who had a bar in the red light district can go home and be a teacher of young kids !! Just a tad suspect i reckon !

[jomama]

Interesting to note that someone who had a bar in the red light district can go home and be a teacher of young kids !! Just a tad suspect i reckon !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Even teachers have the right to a personal life...

[jomama]

If I wasn't down to my last warning i'd be more trenchant about comments like these

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sorry..I didn't mean to diminish how awful this is for her and her family. Domestic violence is a terrible thing (sadly, you're more likely to be done in by someone you know well, and police really abhor these situations because they're so volatile). My stepsister was killed by her boyfriend.

I was trying (badly it seems) to respond to those who are trying to meld this into the ongoing series of threads about violence in Thailand.

I didn't mean to lessen it at all. If I offended I apologize.