American Man Arrested for Pattaya Murder

[Living in a cartoon]

I can count on one hand the number of times any follow-up reporting has been done on these types of stories. But in this case, my guess is he will get something similar to the Aldhouse coverage.

Face it, most farangs who come here to live without independent means, an appropriate visa, and no long term plan are trouble. I for one would like to find some way to send them all back. I avoid them.

[rhythmworx]

Remember, if you don't tell the locals where you are going you look suspicious.

So from now on tell everyone you meet on the street where you are going.

[kamahele]

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he confessed!

If this is correct as an American citizen, go after him under Thai law. Lock him up and do what is needed.

I totally agree with you stkyricesf and if I may send a brief nota bene to the American Embassy who will no doubt try to have this murderer repatriated. In the Thai justice system your Steven Timothy Rowe will not be denied due process but be treated with respect - as is his entitlement under basic human rights.

While detained in Thailand waiting for his day in court, he will not be subjected to any kind of physical, psychological and/or sexual abuses performed by Thai prison staff either. Unlike back in the United States.

You (the U.S. Department of Justice) therefore need to take a leaf out of the Thai justice system's book and not interfere with this matter any further than you already have.

You really have no idea what rights Americans have when arrested in their home country do you? Start by reading the bill of rights and then continue with the additional laws added to protect the rights of those arrested. This doesn't go to say there are no abuses in the system but there is also recourse for those arrested which includes overturning convictions if your rights were violated during the arrest and prosecution. Also, someone offering an opinion is not inferring with a matter as you suggest, they are offering an opinion. This is a social networking site of sorts you know which means people may have opinions of their own, even if they may be off the mark like yours is.

[captspectre]

I will start it then.

Guilty as charged, m'lud.

finally! an american charged with a crime! I thought that was the domain of the brits, frogs and russians!

[minikev]

I get the feeling there is more to this story. If he was fleeing why was he in a tourist bar in Udon, Also he must have known he was wanted for questioning.

Don't hang him yet. Of course it is quite possible he killed the girl but it is also possible something completely different happened.

[Strangebrew]

Reading this dribble is funny most think your so smart if that be the case Why haven't they caught the killers of those children during the protest's? The arrest is a dog and pony show just because a stranger doesn't tell you where he is going makes him guilty of murder? Is it me or dose logic work differently in Thailand? I didn't read anywhere that it said he confessed to the crime. All it said he was a suspect, Which I guess is because he failed to tell some Thai's he was going out of town. Hell I don't tell my neighbor's where I go it is none of there business they don't pay my bills.

[Strangebrew]

If I were investigating this crime I would first checkout those close to her like the people who she was going to take trip with maybe the male made an advance on her she refused and was going to tell the other girls. Thai men hate to be turned down for sure lose of face.

[Bernard Flint]

Why jealous on her and not on her boyfriend?

right. and a 49 y/o pervert and a teacher hitting on a 19 y/o? total scum.

I agree Sir, A poncy pervert, he looks about 60 actualy

[Strangebrew]

As far as crossing the boarder any knucklehead can cross into any boarding country here without using the checkpoints. Did it once by accident. came back same way so no foul .

[smedly]

Reading this dribble is funny most think your so smart if that be the case Why haven't they caught the killers of those children during the protest's? The arrest is a dog and pony show just because a stranger doesn't tell you where he is going makes him guilty of murder? Is it me or dose logic work differently in Thailand? I didn't read anywhere that it said he confessed to the crime. All it said he was a suspect, Which I guess is because he failed to tell some Thai's he was going out of town. Hell I don't tell my neighbor's where I go it is none of there business they don't pay my bills.

nice to see someone really on top of things - do more reading and less typing - result

what you type might actually make sense and be current

[Benmart]

Let us treat this man with the respect he deserves. He is accused, not convicted.

The fact that he did not flee the country works very much in his favour in my opinion, surely if he had murdered a girl in the manner described he would get out of Thailand asap ?

Also. lets not forget that a newspaper report is not the same as facts ! Even if a newspaper suggests he confessed, that does not mean he did confess.. it simply means a newspaper said so, and newspapers tend to make a lot of errors.

As far as I'm concerned he is innocent until proven otherwise... so show some respect for his right to a fair trial

Amen to that notion However, I find it somewhat odd, that the fair trial concept totally escaped the perception levels, in so many of the previous replies, by so many so-called "educated" farangs on this forum. No small wonder that Thai people believe the majority of westerners in Thailand, to be stupid .

Very admirable for you to defend the ....shall we say the " prime suspect ".

But with all due respect the Pattaya daily News distinctly says he was very stressed and he had tried to commit suicide a couple of times .

You have to admit that doesn't look good does it?

From my experience, most of the people that I arrested looked and acted distressed. Arrest is a stressful experience, for the guilty or those later proven to be innocent. The "looks" mean little in court.

As for the suicide attempts. People under stress may include those with mental/emotional problems or substance abuse histories. Innocent people can attempt suicide when arrested or accused of a wrongdoing.

A case in point was in 1996 an American Navy Admiral accused of wearing combat decorations that he was not entitled to wear. He was so distressed and humiliated that he took his own life. An investigation later revealed that he was entitled to wear the decorations. The reporter that broke the story, without thoroughly checking the facts, bears some degree of responsibility for the results of his poor journalism.

I read what the "papers" report and try not to jump to conclusions, point fingers, pass judgement or tie-the-noose for the hanging party. There are plenty of other readers that do, and that's their right I suppose.

From my past experience, each time I assumed something was so, it turned out not to be. In this mans case, it's up to the courts to decide his guilt or innocence. My two-Satangs worth of chin-wagging makes no difference.

[catweazle]

RIP to the victim, condolences to family and friends. Such a waste - only 19 years...

The case looks pretty much like an open and shut. Thus dogoodering and trying to find excuses for "Whitey" are inappropriate here. And hellyeah, he sure looks like a cold-blooded F#$k and I have no sympathy for him at all. Hope he gets everything he deserves shoved up his butty in Bangkok Hilton.

so on a brief newspaper report you consider it an open and shut case. when i read comments like yours i really feel ashamed to be a human bieng.

He confessed and was the only and last person seen with her in that room, before she ended up dead in a bag.

Dogooders and "hey wait, let's make 100% sure he really did it, even though he confessed" people like you are responsible for hundreds of thousands of subsequent dead victims because notorious killers were released due to "reasonable doubt" and senseless pussy babble and whining like yours.

By the way, how do you feel walking this planet as a human BIENG - is it chinese or french?

[oldsailor35]

where does it say anywhere that he confessed?

In a previous police report !

[oldsailor35]

i hope they have more evidence than "he was seen walking downstairs"

Ah, but he looked suspicious because he didn't tell anyone where he was going. From now on, 24/7 I'm going to be yelling out where I'm going.

I wouldn't trust the Thai police and courts any farther than I could throw them. It's the only thing that makes me uncomfortable personally when I'm in Thailand.

I'm not saying he's innocent, it just that the hang 'em high brigade with so little known amazes me.

So little known by you for sure. In a previous police report, he has confessed he killed her through jealousy. So please get your facts right before coming the old "hang em high" crap.

And please, please don't be amazed at everything that you do not understand.

[oldsailor35]

Let us treat this man with the respect he deserves. He is accused, not convicted.

The fact that he did not flee the country works very much in his favour in my opinion, surely if he had murdered a girl in the manner described he would get out of Thailand asap ?

Also. lets not forget that a newspaper report is not the same as facts ! Even if a newspaper suggests he confessed, that does not mean he did confess.. it simply means a newspaper said so, and newspapers tend to make a lot of errors.

As far as I'm concerned he is innocent until proven otherwise... so show some respect for his right to a fair trial

He deserves no respect whatsoever as he has admitted that he killed her through his own jealousy.

[oldsailor35]

A sequence of non sequiturs in doggerel English that fails to convey any sense at all why this man is a suspect in this foul murder.

ha ha ha .........Confession usually does cause, to say at the least, a little suspicion.

[SteeleJoe]

As for the suicide attempts. People under stress may include those with mental/emotional problems or substance abuse histories. Innocent people can attempt suicide when arrested or accused of a wrongdoing.

A case in point was in 1996 an American Navy Admiral accused of wearing combat decorations that he was not entitled to wear. He was so distressed and humiliated that he took his own life. An investigation later revealed that he was entitled to wear the decorations. The reporter that broke the story, without thoroughly checking the facts, bears some degree of responsibility for the results of his poor journalism.

Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda was NOT entitled to wear the "v" on those decorations. It was however, considered by many knowledgable folks as a minor and forgivable oversight and his suicide was seen as an odd reaction - as in virtually any case of suicide, surely there had to be underlying issues.

You perhaps need to "thoroughly check out the facts".

[SteeleJoe]

People who don't understand what significance, if any, the suspects being in Udon had, need to know that he lived and worked on Rama II road, in Thon Buri - whe he'd lived since before the murder - until shortly after being initially questioned by the police.

[Munger]

Myself, I don't hit the sex areas at all - but mostly, because every time I do, I actually fall in love with someone who ends up moving in with me for years. 2 times now. And both times were very fun and surprisingly 'normal' experiences. I wasn't conned, or 'taken for everything I had', or anything I couldn't recover from - sometimes things were sort of crazy, but only in ways that I can laugh about looking back now. We just loved each other, and simply wouldn't want anything to be violent or angry.

I just don't get it when I read comments or stories about how Thai women are supposed to be so evil, or these situations that get so out of control, whatever happened in this story.

So" EVER TIME", you went to the "sex areas", you "actually" fall in love with a prostitute, and prostitute "actually" loves YOU. Wow, these are your words Sir. Please "wise up"

[NativeSon360]

Let us treat this man with the respect he deserves. He is accused, not convicted.

The fact that he did not flee the country works very much in his favour in my opinion, surely if he had murdered a girl in the manner described he would get out of Thailand asap ?

Also. lets not forget that a newspaper report is not the same as facts ! Even if a newspaper suggests he confessed, that does not mean he did confess.. it simply means a newspaper said so, and newspapers tend to make a lot of errors.

As far as I'm concerned he is innocent until proven otherwise... so show some respect for his right to a fair trial

Amen to that notion However, I find it somewhat odd, that the fair trial concept totally escaped the perception levels, in so many of the previous replies, by so many so-called "educated" farangs on this forum. No small wonder that Thai people believe the majority of westerners in Thailand, to be stupid .

Very admirable for you to defend the ....shall we say the " prime suspect ".

But with all due respect the Pattaya daily News distinctly says “he was very stressed and he had tried to commit suicide a couple of times “.

You have to admit that doesn't look good does it?

no one just "tries" to commit suicide. They either definitely "do it", or they're just being melodramatic, soliciting for "poor-baby' sympathy.

[technologybytes]

Did not or could not flee the country? What was he doing in Udonthani if he wasn't fleeing?

If there was an award for the most stupid comment, this would win !

So.. people in Udon Thani are fleeing the law... I think a lot of people in Udon would be offended by your stupid comment !

Technology...

learn to read. Your comment is stupid. The crime has been committed in Pattaya, the suspect's home was in Pattaya.

Tanlic's question is right: What was he doing in "wherever". Why not stay in Pattaya ? Nothing to do with Udonthani.

Ok, I see your point but really I don't think my comment is stupid at all. Fleeing to Udon Thani is not fleeing at all, if he was going to flee then surely he would leave the country.

If he was Thai then that would be a different story.

[smedly]

Did not or could not flee the country? What was he doing in Udonthani if he wasn't fleeing?

If there was an award for the most stupid comment, this would win !

So.. people in Udon Thani are fleeing the law... I think a lot of people in Udon would be offended by your stupid comment !

Technology...

learn to read. Your comment is stupid. The crime has been committed in Pattaya, the suspect's home was in Pattaya.

Tanlic's question is right: What was he doing in "wherever". Why not stay in Pattaya ? Nothing to do with Udonthani.

Ok, I see your point but really I don't think my comment is stupid at all. Fleeing to Udon Thani is not fleeing at all, if he was going to flee then surely he would leave the country.

If he was Thai then that would be a different story.

Look the point is he left Pattaya and seemingly on the day things went pear shaped, call it fleeing hiding or whatever and the place means nothing at all - he disappeared right when this young lady did

If there was 3rd party involvement we don't know as we can only rely on what we are given by the police in the news

there is no point in trying to fill in the blanks or make stuff up

His job and his home and his girlfriend where in Pattaya - she was murdered - he left pattaya - that is what we know, now for gods sake give it a rest the lot of you

[rct99q]

Somebdody must know him on here as it says he was teaching at ECC.

He sat next to me during a training session for SINE and i believe he was working for them just outside of Udon at the time of arrest. still gives me the shivers as a background check would have possibly nabbed him