Widow of slain Yangon teacher begs suspect to come forward

More than two months after she discovered the body of her husband in the downtown Yangon apartment of Harris Binotti, the widow of teacher Gary Ferguson is asking Binotti, the prime suspect in Ferguson’s death, to turn himself in.

The Scottish Sun released a video last week in which Supatchaya Sichompor, also known as Nong, petitions Binotti to give himself up to law enforcement authorities. She says this would allow Ferguson’s family to “grieve freely, without the burden of the man still running free with no conscience”.

She also calls on the Myanmar government and the British government to “do more to catch the suspect”.

She also calls for an international arrest warrant and a Red Notice from Interpol, which would allow law enforcement authorities outside Myanmar to investigate and arrest Binotti.

An anonymous UK government source told the Scottish Daily Express last month that as of December 23, Myanmar authorities had not issued an arrest warrant for Binotti.

“The FCO and Police Scotland have their hands tied because, even if Binotti arrived back in the UK, they would be unable to arrest him as he isn’t officially wanted. Neither have the power to investigate and they are limited in what they can do,” the UK government source said.

Binotti previously went by the name Harris Stockbridge and reportedly has UK and EU passports. He and the victim Gary Ferguson, 47, were teachers at the Horizon International School in Yangon before Ferguson’s death. Ferguson was also a UK citizen.

Ferguson’s body was discovered with head and chest injuries early in the morning on Sunday, November 6, by Binotti’s girlfriend Elsie Devolder and Nong, who reported the case to Yangon police.

Binotti is thought to have fled Myanmar on Myanmar Airways International flight 8M331 to Bangkok at 4:20pm on Saturday, November 5, before catching a connecting flight to an unknown destination.

A Thai police spokesperson said in late November Binotti did not enter Thailand after that MAI flight.

In addition to Nong, Ferguson is also survived by a four-year-old son, Jeremy. In her video, Nong says: “Jeremy lost a beloved father. Our lives have changed dramatically and we will have no closure until justice has been done.”