Frenchman denies murder, girlfriend being sought
A French man arrested in Tak has denied being involved in the murder of his Thai girlfriend's Italian ex-husband, police said on Monday.
Rigaux Amaury, 34, was arrested in a forest in Tak's Wang Chao district on Sunday while his girlfriend, Rujira Eiumlamai, 38, managed to escape arrest.
Phichit Court had issued arrest warrants for them for allegedly murdering and burning the body of Rujira’s ex-husband, Giuseppe de Stefani, 61 in Phichit's Bung Narang district. The remains of the body were found in a wooded area near Bung Thab Chan pond in Tambon Laemran on January 19.
Residents in Wang Chao alertold police they had spotted Amaury and Rujira living in the forest, where police tracked him down and arrested him.
Police said that Amaury claimed during hours of questioning that he knew nothing about the murder.
He told officers Rujira and her ex-Thai boyfriend had murdered Stefani and he had simply helped Rujira escape.
Police nonetheless charged him with collaborating in the murder, and then destroying and hiding the body.
Amaury was taken from Tak to be detained by police in Phichit's Bung Narang district.