Police confirmed that they have officially charged German Nico Papke for the murder of his girlfriend Pischa Nampadung.
The woman’s body was found dumped in the Phuket jungle in on Sunday. The charges were read to Papke, 35, as he lay in his hospital bed, an officer from Chalong Police Station confirmed today.
Papke was also charged with concealing her body, the officer confirmed.
The German remains under police guard at Vachira Phuket Hospital after he attempted to slash his own throat with a box cutter when police moved to arrest him at his rented home in Rawai’s Saiyuan area on Sunday evening.
“Of course, I love Lek, she always told me to stay strong,” he said from his hospital bed.
Papke, who appeared sullen when interviewed, said that he and Pischa, 35, whose nickname was “Lek,” had been in an “unstable relationship” for “about 3 to 4 months” and that they had an heated dispute on the night that Pischa disappeared.
“Lek borrowed THB20,000 from me and said that it had something to do with a car. However, she then told me that she no longer had feelings for me and that she missed her Israeli ex-boyfriend,” Papke said.
Asked if he was responsible for the death of Pischa, Papke refused to answer.
Police said that they still feared Papke would try to escape custody.
Sgt. Rashen Chookaew told reporters, “Last night, police officers who monitored the accused during the night shift recounted that, in the middle of the night, Papke got up and just stared into space for a long time.
“Officers were worried that Papke may attempt to escape during his hospital stay. So fellow police officers in charge of the operation were informed and we have added extra guards,” he said.
Meanwhile, a one-day funeral for Pischa, originally from Kamphaeng Phet province, got underway at Chalong Temple yesterday with Thai and foreign friends and local residents from Rawai and Chalong paying their respects.
The cremation for Pischa is set to take place today.
The deceased’solder sister, Bang-earn Onkorat, 40, said, “We do not want to keep Lek’s body for many days because it is not perfect. We just want to follow a simple religious funeral.
“Some of our relatives from Kamphaeng Phet are not able to come to the funeral, so the funeral is for one day only, this is what our mother requested,” she said.
Story: The Phuket News
