Police Investigate Mysterious Death Of Swedish Man Found In Luxury Phuket Condo

[webfact]

Phuket News: Swedish man dies in luxury condo

Officers inspect Mr Larsson's room.

There was nothing found at the scene to suggest Mr Larsson’s death

was a homicide, say police.

PHUKET: -- Patong Police are investigating the mysterious death of a Swedish man found whose body was found in his luxury Phuket condo yesterday afternoon.

Sub Lt Pattapee Srichay of the Patong Police said staff at the Patong Tower condo on Thaweewong Road notified authorities after discovering the body of 53-year-old Jan Larsson at about 4pm.

The Swede’s body was found lying face up on his bed, which was covered with dried blood from wounds to his back.

Staff at the high-rise condo became worried when Mr Larsson, a resident in the building for three or four years, had not been seen for a long period and failed to respond when they knocked on his door, said Sub Lt Pattapee.

At about 4pm a maid unlocked the door to the 10th-story room and found Mr Larsson dead.

From the evidence at the scene, the Swede most likely fell onto a bottle of spirits that shattered and caused deep lacerations to his back, said Sub Lt Pattapee.

He then likely tried to sit up in bed, where he bled to death, he added.

Evidence at the scene included a broken, bloodstained spirit bottle under the bed and shards of glass in the wounds on the late Mr Larsson’s back.

Apart from this the room was tidy and there were no signs of foul play, though police have not ruled out the possibility of homicide, said the officer.

The death comes just weeks after the mysterious death of Felipe Basualto Trincado, a Chilean-born Swedish national whose body was found hanged by the neck from the doorknob of his rented room in Bang Tao.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-01-21

[negreanu]

From the evidence at the scene, the Swede most likely fell onto a bottle of spirits that shattered and caused deep lacerations to his back, said Sub Lt Pattapee.

He then likely tried to sit up in bed, where he bled to death, he added.

Jeez..Thai police are just the laughing stock of the world.

[Jingthing]

That sounds very odd. How does one fall into a bottle of spirits? Typically a bottle might be on a table of some kind. So you fall. OK. Say you fall onto the bottle? That would break the bottle? Was he a very BIG man?

[RKASA]

Both sound fishy - one kills self by inflicting wounds to his back with a broken bottle in his tidy apartment ( an accident? ), but rather then call for help he gets off the floor and goes to bed. Then the other hangs from a door knob how far off the ground?. I am sure they both had some unwanted help. .

[HC82]

There was nothing found at the scene to suggest Mr Larsson’s death

was a homicide...The Swede’s body was found lying face up on his bed, which was covered with dried blood from wounds to his back

[Farang0tang]

Words fail me - again!

[InTransit]

He fell onto a spirit bottle and the bottle ended up under his bed, while the man ended up face up on his bed???? Leave it out, and the police think because the room was clean and tidy there was no foul play, unbelievable!!!!

Edited January 21, 2011 by InTransit

[Jingthing]

If it was a hit and that would be my suspicion, the perp certainly had kind of a twisted sense of humor. Why even bother with the booze bottle setup?

[BarnicaleBob]

Looking at the top photo, it appears the main room is a bit messy with items on the floor. This is a little bit out there, I would like to see photos of the blood spatters patterns before I would agree or disagree with the police findings. Also, were the broken pieces of the bottle processed for finger prints? Is there hallway security video that might indicate the last movement of the victim or anyone coming from his room? I think the crime reporters in Thailand leave too much information out and they often assume way too much.

[Crushdepth]

From the evidence at the scene, the Swede most likely fell onto a bottle of spirits that shattered and caused deep lacerations to his back, said Sub Lt Pattapee.

He then likely tried to sit up in bed, where he bled to death, he added.

The police should be embarrassed to field theories like these. Cretins.

[Jingthing]

What's their motivation to care?

[Boater]

a propery forensic doctor would be able to tell by his body mass and the ration he fell if in fact he did fall on the whiskey bottle....

i think in any other country this would be a murder scene stright away.......

[sam666]

He fell from the fuc_kin' ceiling on the bottle? And was so pissed he thought he would sleep it off on his back while bleeding to death? I see, I've been there a few times drunk as well ......

Hardly a luxury apartment with a 50 year old rusty fan like that ...

[coma]

I read this story today in the Thai [thai script] news paper " Daily News ". They reported that the deceased, a High Society type with alot of money, had a habit of inviting male friends back to his room for drinking binges. They also reported that when they examined the scene the deceased had stab wounds consisted with knife wounds therefore they are indeed treating it as a homicide. The police theory is that one of these ' friends' murdered the deceased and stole an unspecified ammount of money from the room.

Edited January 21, 2011 by coma

[kuffki]

Of course not in all cases but i would say the operative words in this story kind of speak for itself

Luxury condo

Foreigner

Found dead.

Of course it was an accident, funny enough though most foreigners found dead usually have accidents when they live in a luxury condo or house or own some business or have some money in the safe.

[babsy65]

If it was a hit and that would be my suspicion, the perp certainly had kind of a twisted sense of humor. Why even bother with the booze bottle setup?

Thai mafia usually leave a bottle of thai whiskey behind after a hit as a calling card.

[Farang0tang]

On sale now, at all good bookstores - "How to commit the perfect murder"

1. If you are in another country, invite your intended victim on holiday to LOS

2. Carry out your dirty deed - by any means you wish.

3. Depart LOS swift-ish.

4. Read up later the unbelievable bullshit concocted by the BiB.

RIP Mr Larsson

[ginqueen30]

Reminds me of the time i went to A&E with a bottle of ketchup stuck in my bum,,,when asked "" how did this happen??"" i innocently replied somebody left it o the kitchen chair !!!!! MMMM not sure the nurse believed me EITHER !!!!!!!!!!

[fullerphoto]

This country should come with a travel warning.. Period!

[kuffki]

This country should come with a travel warning.. Period!

It does, however it is not the tourists who usually have this kind of "accidents"

[geriatrickid]

Perhaps some meat for the bones of the story will help some people;

- The 10th floor has about 4 units at a minimum that are rented out to visitors.

- Many of the units are bare bones and as you can see from the wardrobe are not lavishly furnished. BTW, there is no way that unit was worth 10M baht.

- The reason for the fan is that the original units came with 2 AC units, 1 for the BR, 1 for the LR and if the unit faces south, or to the beach, don't do a good job at cooling. The cost of electricity is surcharged so you get one doozy of a bill if you use the AC.

And as an added bitch, the water pressure sucks. On some days its a trickle. You might as well get a pail and use that.

- The surveillance of the building is ok. There is always someone on duty at the desk and he or she doesn't fall asleep, but actually pay attention. There is the parking garage guard with a barrier The old guy that has the evening shift keeps an eye on people.

- I am unaware of any other assaults or breakins.

- There are surveillance cameras

- One can enter and exit discreetly if one is "stealthy" and uses the parking garage side entrance.

- Jones Lang Lasalle took over the admin and maintenance last year and they seem to do a better job at it than the group before it.

- There has been a deterioration in the quality of some of the unit holders.Last year the lobby had a posting of scores of owners that hadn't paid their condo fees. At high season, most of the regular unit holders are away and the lower units are rented out to some characters. However, even these folks are well behaved. No fights or loud noise. The units above the 12th floor are occupied or rented to families or upscale Indians, Russians and Europeans.

- If the deceased is who I think he is, he had a skinny little boyfriend last year. I think dripping wet the kid was at most 50kg including his braces and I can't see that kid attacking anyone. He was very shy.

-On some of the balconies, it is very easy to lean over and talk to the adjacent neighbour or have a look.

I'm not going to comment on the likelihood of the death scenario, although it is plausible. The approach to reporting the details isn't the best in the article and may create an unintended bias. Police officers really shouldn't offer opinions as to the cause of death until the preliminary medical exam is concluded since the injuries are a key part of the story. Nor should journalists speculate at such an early stage of the investigation. At least look at the surveillance video, interview the employees and ask the neighbours first. Ever notice that sometimes these stories never reference that aspect? If the deceased entered through the main lobby and went up to his room with the assailant, it will be on the video.

[gemini81]

insulting to readers that one would actually fall for this rubbish of an explanation. what a disrespect to the poor guy too. the thai news cover the story briefly and paint a possible murder unsolved picture.

next the coroner will find 20 stab wounds and the police'll say this is the worst case of suicide ever.

at least I'm not living it up in a "luxury" condo and with a lot of assets, or i might be next on the hit squad list.

[kurnell]

I think that the estimate for the average IQ of 90 in this region is way over the mark. Perhaps they were including the houseplants??

[Northbank]

I read this story today in the Thai [thai script] news paper " Daily News ". They reported that the deceased, a High Society type with alot of money, had a habit of inviting male friends back to his room for drinking binges. They also reported that when they examined the scene the deceased had stab wounds consisted with knife wounds therefore they are indeed treating it as a homicide. The police theory is that one of these ' friends' murdered the deceased and stole an unspecified ammount of money from the room.

Yes i also read this story somewhere else and it was a similar report to the one you read....it stated that the victim had a couple of stab wounds plus wounds inflicted by a broken bottle...But more importantly it also stated that there were bloody footprints all over the apartment and leaving the apartment..

Perhaps the guy fell on the bottle, his beloved bottle, bled a bit, walked around the apartment, walked outside the apartment, then the depression created by the loss of his beloved bottle caused him to come back in to the apartment to stab himself a couple of times and then lay on the bed next to his favourite bottle and bleed to death.......

Yep.. i'm convinced... it's definitely a suicide... i mean it couldn't possibly be anything else.....especially not if you use the simple investigative technique the thai police do .... farang die in thailand = accident/suicide.....case solved

[softgeorge]

Let's just face it we farangs are stupid morons and will believe everything that is fed to us. Farang murdered, it is suicide. Why do farangs stab themselves in the back cut thier own heads off then throw themselves out of the windows of highrise biuldings. All suicide.

Why is it i every death there is these exact same lines in every media report.

"Staff at the high-rise condo became worried when Mr XXXXX, a resident in the building for xxx or xxx years, had not been seen for a long period and failed to respond when they knocked on his door," "Maid unlocked the door and found the deceased"

I dare you to check every report will be exactly the bloody same it is like a cut and pste job.

Suicide my arse.

[Thaddeus]

CSI Thailand, would be very short wouldn't it.

[coma]

Yes. I read that also. Tthere was boodied foot prints in the apartment. So they have stated in is a possible homicide. What more does one want the BIB to state at this early stage of their investigation.

[bangon04]

Let's just face it we farangs are stupid morons and will believe everything that is fed to us. Farang murdered, it is suicide. Why do farangs stab themselves in the back cut thier own heads off then throw themselves out of the windows of highrise biuldings. All suicide.

Why is it i every death there is these exact same lines in every media report.

"Staff at the high-rise condo became worried when Mr XXXXX, a resident in the building for xxx or xxx years, had not been seen for a long period and failed to respond when they knocked on his door," "Maid unlocked the door and found the deceased"

I dare you to check every report will be exactly the bloody same it is like a cut and pste job.

Suicide my arse.

No this one is different - it did not happen in Pattaya

[bangon04]

If the Royal Thai Police actually ever did solve a serious crime by means of scientific and logical means, it would be such a shock that many TV readesr would be temrted to disbelieve it and call it suicide.....

[swifty5x5]

a propery forensic doctor would be able to tell by his body mass and the ration he fell if in fact he did fall on the whiskey bottle....

i think in any other country this would be a murder scene stright away.......

I agree. Any other country would deem it a murder scene until the proportion of evidence would prove otherwise. They would not just makeup a story of what they think happened.