Thai daughter's ashes return in German triple murder case

Thai daughter's ashes return in German triple murder case

Grieving parents await remains of two grandchildren also slain in Ravensburg murders

The parents of Lamai Rubino are comforted by their youngest daughter, Supattra Phunobthong, right, after receiving the ashes of their daughter who was allegedly murdered by her German husband in Europe last month. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)
The parents of Lamai Rubino are comforted by their youngest daughter, Supattra Phunobthong, right, after receiving the ashes of their daughter who was allegedly murdered by her German husband in Europe last month. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)

The parents broke into tears when they saw the box containing the ashes of their beloved daughter who was murdered by her German husband last month.

Chamras Chaiyada, 53, and his wife Daeng, 51, from Kalasin's Nong Kung Si district arrived at the Department of Consular Affairs' Protection of Thai Nationals Abroad Division Tuesday to receive the ashes of their late daughter and the death certificate.

"We last saw her in April last year. We had no idea it was going to be the final time we would be together,'' Ms Daeng told the Bangkok Post while sobbing uncontrollably.

The father did not say a word. He kept crying and holding the box containing his eldest daughter's ashes.

Their daughter, Lamai Rubino, 37, and two grandchildren, Sukhontharat Romsabai, 19, and Sudarat Saenbutr, 14, were allegedly killed with an axe by her partner Antonio Rubino, 53, at their home in Ravensburg, Germany on July 1.

The family learned about the tragedy from a friend of Lamai's on Facebook the day after the attack.

Three bodies were taken to a Thai temple in the town for religious rites by the Thai community abroad called "Thai Town Today".

The couple said they were still waiting for the remains of their two teenage grandchildren to arrive home.

"Please send our two grandchildren back home," Ms Daeng begged.

The family will hold the funeral rites for Lamai in their home province today.

In letters found at his house, Mr Rubino said he had planned to kill the couple's youngest daughter too before taking his own life. However, he could not do it.

The police arrived at the scene where they found Mr Rubino crying and hugging his five-year-old child. He had waited for the police.

According to Ms Daeng, her daughter first met her German partner in Thailand in 2006 and married six months later.

The following year she arranged for her two daughters from a previous marriage to be registered as Rubino's adopted children. Their first child was born five years ago.

"We met his mother once before they moved to Germany. Things seemed to be going well until one day my daughter started complaining her husband did not want to give her more money because her husband knew she would transfer it to me," Ms Daeng recalled.

"A few years ago, my arm was broken in an accident. My daughter wanted to give me money for treatment and surgery at the hospital, but her husband refused to help," she said.

Mr Rubino was arrested on charges of murder and has been remanded in custody since the attack took place.

An official at the Department of Consular Affairs said a team at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Frankfurt was contacting German authorities to bring back the ashes of the two teens to Thailand.

"Thai officials will fly from Frankfurt to Ravensburg today to speak to Mr Rubino and convince him to send the remains of his stepchildren to Thailand," a source said.

Cases of foreigners murdering their Thai partners in Europe happen frequently, according to a department source. "We annually receive seven or eight murder cases,'' he said.

As of February this year, there were 58,827 Thai citizens living in Germany.

The department found a large number of Thai women, mostly from the Isan region, live in Frankfurt and Hamburg.

Lamai's younger sister, Supattra Phunobthong, 32, has promised to take care of her parents now her sister is dead.

"My parents relied financially on my sister. Now my sister is gone. I will have to make a living for both myself and my parents," Ms Supattra said.

She is interested in running a beauty salon and will start a job training course provided by the Office of Women's Affairs and Family Development under the Social Development and Human Security Ministry in October.

The training course will last for six months and was provided to the victim's family free of charge.

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