Thai court delivers death penalty, life sentences for German’s murder

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Police found the dismembered body of Hans Peter Ralter Mack inside a freezer at a residence in Chokchai Garden Home 1 Village on Tuesday.

The dismembered body of 62-year-old Hans-Peter Mack was found inside a freezer at a house in southern Thailand’s Chonburi province in July 2023.

PHOTO: THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A Thai national was sentenced to death and two Germans were handed life sentences for the gruesome murder of a German real estate broker near the resort town of Pattaya.

The Pattaya Provincial Court delivered the death sentence to Shahrukh Karim Uddin, a Thai of Pakistani descent, on Dec 20 for the murder of Mr Hans-Peter Mack, 62, in July 2023, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

Mr Mack’s dismembered body was found inside a freezer covered in a thick layer of tape at a house in an outer Pattaya suburb in southern Thailand’s Chonburi province.

German nationals Olaf Thorsten Brinkmann and Petra Christl Grundgreif confessed to the crime during the trial, and their sentences were reduced from capital punishment to life in prison as a result.

All three defendants were found guilty of premeditated murder and concealing a body.

Mr Mack disappeared after telling his wife he was meeting another property realtor, although his family later believed he was lured away and kidnapped.

The court heard evidence that the group planned to dispose of Mr Mack’s body at sea and had transferred 3.35 million baht (S$130,000) out of his account. AFP

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