Three Germans deny killing Pattaya property broker

Olaf Thorsten Brinkmann, 52, one of three German nationals allegedly involved in the murder of their 62-year-old compatriot, was arrested at a pub in Bangkok on Tuesday night. (Photo supplied/Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
Olaf Thorsten Brinkmann, 52, one of three German nationals allegedly involved in the murder of their 62-year-old compatriot, was arrested at a pub in Bangkok on Tuesday night. (Photo supplied/Chaiyot Pupattanapong)

Three German nationals arrested for the murder of a 62-year-old German businessman whose dismembered body was found in a freezer at a house in Pattaya have denied all charges.

The fourth suspect, Mr Uddin, a Pakistani with Thai nationality, was arrested in Kanchanaburi on Wednesday afternoon while trying to flee across the border to Myanmar, police said.

The three suspects were Ms Petra Christl Grundgreif, 54; Olaf Thorsten Brinkmann, 52; and Ms Nicole Frevel, 52. All were German citizens and all denied any involvement.

Ms Frevel, a disabled woman, rented the house where the body of Hans Peter Mack was found in a freezer on Monday. He had been missing since July 4.

Police said Ms Grundgreif suffered chest pains while being held in a police station cell. She was treated by medics.

Ms Frevel was also treated, for a knife wound. She had cut her wrist.

Ms Grundgreif, Mr Brinkmann and Mr Uddin are suspected of using an electric saw to cut Mack’s body into 13 parts, which were put into three plastic bags. The bags were put in the freezer.

Surveillance camera footage showed Mack had met Ms Grundgreif in a café in Bang Lamung district on July 4. They later drove to a pool villa in Soi Chaiyaphreuk 1, where Mack was believed to have been murdered.

Investigators believe the other suspects were waiting for Mack at the villa and forced him to transfer money into their bank accounts before killing him and cutting up his body.

According to Mack’s 24-year-old Thai wife, he left their house in Pattaya on July 4 to meet a foreign property broker. That was the last time she saw him.

Five days later, Mack’s silver Mercedes-Benz was found.

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Vocabulary

  • broker: a person who buys and sells things for other people - นายหน้า
  • citizen: someone who has the right to live permanently in a particular country - พลเมือง 
  • denied (verb): said that something is not true or did not happen - ปฏิเสธ
  • disabled: having a condition, especially a physical one, that limits your activities in some way - พิการ
  • dismembered: having legs, arms, hands, etc. cut off - ถูกตัดออกเป็นส่วน ๆ , ถูกตัดมือตัดขาออก
  • flee: to leave a place or person quickly because you are afraid of possible danger - หนี อพยพ
  • freezer (n): a cold cabinet keeping food at very low temperatures -
  • involvement: the act or process of taking part in something - การเกี่ยวข้อง
  • nationality: a group of people who have the same race, language, or culture - สัญชาติ
  • saw: a tool used for cutting wood or metal - ใบมีด เลื่อย
  • suspect: a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย
  • suspect: to believe that something is true, especially something bad - สงสัย, เป็นที่สงสัยว่า
  • treat: to provide medical care - รักษา
  • wound: an injury in which your skin or flesh is damaged - บาดแผล
  • wrist: the part of your body between your hand and your arm - ข้อมือ
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