A Ukrainian model was found brutally dismembered with a saw in a luxury apartment in Thailand where she was staying with her Polish boyfriend – who reportedly used Google Translate to ask for help disposing of her body.
Alona Savchenko, 27, had checked into the Key Sathorn-Charoenraj hotel apartment in Bangkok on April 29 with her partner Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow, 25, on April 29.
Lagoda-Filippow had registered an advertising company in Covent Garden in London’s West End, and Mrs Savchenko had previously done photo shoots for him.
The couple looked happy as they entered the hotel together and CCTV footage from the hallway shows the couple smiling as they walk to their room.
But guards grew suspicious on the morning of May 15 when the Polish tourist left the building, alone and in a hurry, dragging his luggage and very nervous.
Lagoda-Filippow hailed a taxi, whose driver Surachai Sabaibang later called the hotel to inform them of the Pole’s erratic behavior after his passenger allegedly used the Google Translate app to request help cutting up a body.
A bloodstained saw was found next to Alona Savchenko’s body by hotel staff and police
Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow, 25, is suspected of murdering his Ukrainian girlfriend. The Pole had registered an advertising company in Covent Garden in London’s West End
Thai paramedics carry Mrs Savchenko’s body out of the hotel
CCTV footage of Lagoda-Filippow’s exit from the hotel shows him trembling as he exits the elevator, lugging his suitcase behind him.
After Mr. Surachai’s call, hotel staff went to check the couple’s room on the 32nd floor, where they found Ms. Savchenko’s dismembered body on the bed.
The young woman’s face was covered in blood and her left hand was severed at the wrist.
Her head was also partially severed with a deep cut from her neck down to her left shoulder, and paramedics discovered she also suffered a stab wound to her chest.
Next to her body was a two-foot long saw covered in blood. Investigators believe Ms. Savchenko was dead about a day before she was discovered, suggesting she was killed over the weekend prior to the Lagoda-Filippow escape attempt.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Pongpun Phonharn, from Wat Phraya Krai district station, said: “The victim arrived at the apartment with her boyfriend on April 29, but he left around noon on May 15 without her.
“We heard he hired a taxi to take him to Sa Kaeo province. He was probably trying to cross the border into Cambodia.’
The couple looked happy as they entered the hotel together and CCTV footage from the hallway shows the couple smiling as they walk to their room
Two weeks later, Lagoda-Filippow hurriedly left the hotel, dragging his luggage alone and looking nervous, according to CCTV footage and security guards
Officers contacted taxi driver Surachai for questioning after the discovery.
The driver said, “I picked up the suspicious passenger, who told me through Google Translate that he wanted to play at a casino. When he couldn’t find a suitable place to play, he asked me through the app to help chop up his girlfriend’s body for 1,500 baht ($44).’
Alarmed by the alarming request, Mr. Surachai reportedly dropped Lagoda-Filippow off at a hotel in Bangkok’s Sathorn district before calling the hotel where he was staying.
Border officials were alerted shortly after hotel staff discovered Ms Savchenko’s body and on Monday evening Lagoda-Filippow was caught at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint, 215 kilometers away in Sa Kaeo province.
He was detained at Wat Phraya Krai police station for questioning while police informed the Polish embassy of his arrest. Investigations are underway.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Pongpun Phonharn added: “The suspect was very calm when he was arrested. It was about 4 o’clock this morning when he was caught.
“He drank coffee in his cell as usual and started exercising, as if it were his normal morning routine. He said nothing.
“We have contacted the Polish embassy and made arrangements for the embassy to arrive later today.”