The American man who took his own wife hostage in a standoff with police before shooting her and himself remains comatose, police said today.
Bart Allen Helmus is “completely unconscious” at the Sa Kaeo Crown Prince Hospital, Lt. Col. Bunnak Tachoo said, two days after a police dragnet tracked the 39-year-old and two other fugitives from Pattaya to a location near the border with Cambodia.
US fugitive shoots pregnant wife hostage, self in standoff with Thai police
Bunnak said Friday morning by phone that Helmus was still in a coma as of yesterday. He didn’t know Helmus’ present condition as of Friday morning and referred inquiries to the hospital.
Police have notified the U.S. Embassy to in turn inform Helmus’ family, he added.
Col. Pirom Chandrapirom, chief of police in Sa Kaeo city, where Wednesday’s standoff occurred, said he did not know the current condition of Helmus but said he’s assigned a lower-ranking cop to the hospital room.
The Sa Kaeo Crown Prince Hospital director Phuwadol Kittwattanasarn said Helmus was brain dead and unresponsive.
Helmus shot Sirinapa Wisetrit, his wife after taking her hostage as police closed in on the three fugitives in Sa Kaeo’s Wattananakorn district.
They had been sought after stabbing a cop and busting out of a Pattaya courtroom where they were on trial for drug-related charges.
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US fugitive shoots pregnant wife hostage, self in standoff with Thai police
