Star Wars fanatic choked his Thai bride to death after she destroyed his collection of toys

Rickie la Touche went round to his mother's house and admitted what he had done after the killing

Sci-fi fan, 30, said he was an abused husband who had turned to a domestic abuse charity

Murdered: Thai bride Pornpilai Srisroy was killed after she smashed up her husband's collection of Star Wars toys

A Star Wars fanatic choked his Thai bride to death after she destroyed his prized collection of toys.

Rickie La Touche, 30, said his wife had damaged his treasured Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker memorabilia which he had been collecting since he was a child.

During a subsequent row he suffocated Pornpilai Srisroy, 28, before running off to his mother's house to tell her what he had done.

The mother-of-one was later discovered dead on the couple's bed covered with a duvet and pillow in Leigh, Greater Manchester.

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years yesterday after a jury found him guilty of murder. He had admitted manslaughter.



La Touche - also known as Rickie Nehls - told police his wife had smashed up his Star Wars collection as part of a campaign to 'make his life hell.'

He claimed he was a henpecked husband who 'flipped' after she threatened to leave him to go back to her native Thailand.

He first met her in a bar while on holiday in Bangkok in Thailand in 2001, Preston Crown Court was told.



He became 'besotted' and they married on his fourth visit to the country in 2003 but she could not get a UK visa until two years later.

However, he was a henpecked husband who had turned to a domestic abuse hotline before the murder in April, the court was told.

When police arrived La Touche told them: 'We woke up. My wife is from Thailand and she keeps threatening to leave.

Obsessed: Rickie la Touche used a picture of the Star Wars character Darth Bane for his Facebook profile. He became angry when his wife damaged his treasured Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker memorabilia

Murdered: Pornpilai Srisroy, 28, was discovered dead in this house in Leigh, Greater Manchester, on April 26

Jailed: Star Wars fanatic Rickie La Touche

'We argued and she said she was going to make my life hell. She's put me through it before. I couldn't let that happen again.

'I then just remember getting up from on top of her. I think I've choked her'.

He claimed his wife had once hit him with a pool cue and threatened to kill him when he was sleep and then 'cut him up and eat him.'



A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of Pornpilai's death was asphyxiation.

After the case Senior Investigating Officer Andy Tattersall from Greater Manchester Police said: 'This is a tragic case where a young woman's life has been taken at the hands of her husband.

'Unfortunately, we may never know exactly what happened that morning, but I hope that la Touche's sentence is of some small comfort to Pornpilai's family and friends.