A Thai-American woman who fled to Bangkok after fatally hitting a 22-year-old American student with her car has returned to the United States to face charges.
Sue “Tubtim” Howson was escorted by Thai authorities to Suvarnabhumi Airport last night to fly back to the state of Michigan. She will take a day to arrive and FBI officers will be waiting for her.
Police Gen. Surachate Hakparn said the 57-year-old woman, who fled to Thailand two days after she killed Michigan State University student Benjamin Kable on New Year’s Day, was remorseful and regretted taking flight. When she was detained by Thai authorities last week, she also claimed that she thought she’d hit a deer.
A message sent to the Kable family for comment was not immediately returned.
Tubtim had been staying southeast of the capital in Chonburi province since she arrived Jan. 5. After her evasion of justice made headlines worldwide, she relocated to Ratchaburi province on Feb. 10.
Kable, a senior electrical engineering student, was walking just before dawn on New Year’s Day when Tubtim hit him with her BMW.
It was unclear what charges the 57-year-old U.S. citizen would face. Local authorities in the U.S. state of Michigan named her in a felony arrest warrant for failing to stop at the scene of a fatal crime and said they may also charge her with fleeing to avoid prosecution, which is also a felony.
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