A Spanish man who is the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of a fellow Spaniard was arrested in Cambodia, where he is believed to have fled after the victim's dismembered body was recovered piece by piece from the Chao Phraya River, police said on Monday.
The suspect identified as Artur Segarra Princep, 36, was arrested on Sunday evening at a restaurant in the Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, 246 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh, where he had checked into a guesthouse a few days earlier, said the regional police chief Gen Chuon Narin, AP reported.
This undated photo made available on Friday and distributed by the Royal Thai Police shows Artur Segarra Princep, 37, of Spain. (Royal Thai Police Department photo)
"We received a request from Thai police to arrest this man, and after launching an investigation we found him,'' said Chuon Narin. "We will hand him over to Thailand.''
Thai police have identified the victim as David Bernat of Spain, who was described as a consultant. They have speculated that he was abducted, tortured and forced to transfer a large amount of money before being killed.
Thai police sent a helicopter to Cambodia on Monday to try to expedite the suspect's return, said a senior Thai police official in Bangkok who attended a meeting at Bangkok police headquarters on the murder case. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Thai police have declined to publicly comment on media reports of large transfers of money from Mr Bernat's bank account to accounts in Spain and Singapore.
Police had obtained records showing that Mr Segarra had withdrawn money from ATM machines in the area as recently as Thursday, and also had video of him with an unidentified woman and in a black Isuzu pickup truck. Immigration police said Segarra has visited Thailand frequently, but his latest visa expired late last year.
Records show that Mr Bernat also visited Thailand many times, arriving most recently on Jan 19 on a flight from Iran. He was last seen alive leaving his Bangkok apartment on Jan 20.
- Earlier report: Search for Spaniard fans out
Medical examiners said they believe he died between Jan 25 and Jan 27, with the cause being suffocation.
Thai media reports over the weekend said that Mr Segarra's motorcycle was found at the Thai border, and a Thai woman described as his girlfriend was quoted saying that he fled Bangkok after seeing his picture on Thai television news reports.
Matichon Online reported that national police chief Gen Chakthip Chaichinda was waiting to arrest him at the Police Aviation Division at Km 4 on Ram Intra road.
Police had earlier taken Pritsana Saen-ubol, 22, Mr Segarra's girlfriend, from Surin province to Bangkok for questioning. According to her accounts, she and Mr Segarra were in a karaoke bar together in Surin’s Muang district, but he sped away on his motorcycle when his photo appeared on the TV news.
During questioning on Saturday night, she told police her boyfriend probably killed David Bernat, a 40-year-old Spanish businessman, whose body parts were found in the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok last Wednesday.
Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn Prousoontorn said on Sunday he had asked his Cambodian counterpart Gen Sokphai to help look for the wanted Spaniard after his motorcycle was found abandoned near a border market in Surin’s Kap Choeng district on Feb 6.