Police believe a French expat found dead in his home in Kamala this morning died by his own hand, stabbing himself in the chest with a knife.
Capt. Prasert Thongprom, of Kamala Police, was called at 10:45am.
Officers and rescue workers arrived to find the body of the man, identified as Henri Paul Jean Melot, 81, from Morlaix, slumped in a chair beside his computer with a knife in his left chest.
“There were no other signs of a struggle. The television and computer were still on. We believe he died no more than four hours before we arrived,” Capt. Prasert said.
Forensic police have inspected the scene.
“Police at this stage believe the man died by his own hand,” Capt. Prasert said.
“Regardless, we have had the man’s body taken to Patong Hospital for further examination. We have also contacted the French embassy and informed them of the death,” he added.
Tourist Police reported that Melot lived in the house with his wife and that he was suffering from lung cancer.
Chalermsee, Melot’s wife, explained that Henri was a retired doctor.
“We found out that he had cancer about three to four months ago. I asked him to have surgery, be he refused,” she said.
“We hired a nurse to take good care of him. When his condition was very serious, he needed 24-hour care. Lately he was better, but the nurse still came and helped me at home,” she said.
Chalermsee explained that she and the nurse were at home this morning.
“It was a normal morning,” she said. “We both got up, and the nurse was in the bedroom cleaning up when a friend of mine stopped by to visit.”
“Henri was in the living room, on the computer when I went outside to talk with my friend–I was outside less than five minutes when I heard his chair shaking,” Chalermsee recounted.
The last thing I saw was Henri waving at me… I thought he wanted to go to the bathroom and I went to get his walker, and then the nurse screamed from what she saw,” she said.
Story: The Phuket News
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