Police hunt for Israeli murder suspect's missing Thai wife

Shimon Biton, 50, is escorted to the Bang Bua Thong police station in Nonthaburi on Saturday to face murder charges. (Photo by Thanarak Khunton)

Police are investigating an Israeli, detained for the murder of a countryman, over the disappearance of his Thai wife and have also sought court approval to arrest the man's 17-year-old son.

The investigation into the woman's disappearance was launched after her father reported he had not had any contact with her since last year.

Anand Sang-urai, 62, filed a complaint with Bang Bua Thong police asking them to find out whether Nantiya Sang-urai, 37, was still alive.

According to Mr Anand, Ms Nantiya lived with her husband Shimon Biton, 50, now a murder suspect, and their 17-year-old son in a rented house in Nonthaburi’s Bang Bua Thong district last year.

When his daughter disappeared and Mr Anand could not contact her, Mr Biton claimed Ms Nantiya was arrested by Lao authorities at the Nong Khai border checkpoint for possession of narcotics.

Mr Anand asked Mr Biton to take him to where his daughter was detained. But the man left the house with his son without telling him where they were going. He inquired about Ms Nantiya’s whereabouts with the Lao embassy, but officials told him they could not find her arrest record.

Mr Anand, who owns a food shop in Bangkok’s Bag Kae district, said he came to Bang Bua Thong police station on Saturday after learning from media reports that Mr Biton became a murder suspect and was detained there. He said he was suspicious about several issues, including Ms Nantiya’s son claiming he did not know him or even his own mother.

“My very own nephew who I helped raise when he was very young now says he does not know me and his own mother who raised him for many years. This is impossible,” Mr Anand told Thairath.

Nonthaburi police commander Pol Maj Gen Susak Prakkamakul said Mr Anand was being questioned further to gather more evidence about his daughter’s disappearance. He was to accompany police to his daughter's Bang Bua Thong home.

Mr Biton was arrested during a raid on his rented home in Bang Bua Thong on Saturday after police discovered dismembered body parts inside a wall.

Police identified the slain man as Eliyahu Cohen, a 63-year-old former Israeli police officer who had been reported missing on Wednesday from a condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Phlat district.

Mr Biton, who was in the house during the raid, allegedly told police he killed Cohen out of jealousy after discovering his girlfriend had been involved in an intimate relationship with him.

Pol Maj Gen Susak said the suspect’s son told police he was at the scene when the killing took place but did not dare to look.

Police have sought a warrant from the Juvenile and Family Court to arrest the teen on charges of collaborating to commit murder and concealment of a body.