One step the alleged killer of Thai teen found in suitcase could take to escape death penalty

An Australian man accused of murdering a Thai teenager may not be able to avoid the death penalty if found guilty, even if compensation is paid to the alleged victim’s family.Simon Peter Carman, 45, has been hit with a slew of charges, including murder, concealing and moving a body, and abducting a minor for indecent purposes, after the body of Tunchanok Donhomla was found stuffed inside a suitcase.Police allege the Ballarat-born man folded the 17-year-old’s body into a 29-inch suitcase and dumped it in long grass beside the railway tracks, approximately 2.6 miles from where he was staying.Carman was arrested at Bangkok’s main international airport on Friday, just moments before boarding a Jetstar flight to Perth.In Thailand, a murder conviction can result in either life imprisonment or the death penalty via lethal injection.Luca Bernardinetti, Chairman and Managing Partner of Mahnakorn Partners Group (MPG), said Thai courts may consider mitigating factors, but they do not erase the offence.“Under Thai law, intentional killing is very serious,” he said.“Thai courts may consider mitigating factors such as a confession, cooperation, remorse, voluntary surrender, or steps taken to reduce harm.“Compensation to the victim’s family may be considered evidence of remorse, but you cannot erase murder with a donation.“The compensation is left to the parties to decide, but the overall decision rests with prosecutors and judges.”Bernardinetti, whose firm is an international embassy favorite, said despite rumors that convicted murderers could see their sentence slashed by 90 percent, he doesn’t recall any case in which a judge would reduce such a sentence by more than half.“If the evidence of the murder and circumstances are aggravating, they might ignore the donation.”Bernardinetti said that foreign nationals accused of aggravated murder are usually looking at legal fees between hundreds of thousands and several million baht ($90,175.80).“It’s a ve...