PATTAYA — In a shocking case that made international headlines, the Pattaya Provincial Court has reached a verdict in the brutal murder of German real estate businessman Hans Peter Ralter Mack, 62, who was kidnapped, killed, and his body concealed in July 2023.
The court handed down death sentences to three defendants involved in the gruesome murder. The case, which took place in Nong Prue, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province, began when Mack disappeared on July 4 after telling his wife he was meeting with a realtor.
Police investigation of CCTV footage revealed suspects transporting a freezer to a house in Chokchai Garden Home Village 1, approximately 400 meters from where Mack’s Mercedes Benz was found. A police raid on July 10, 2023, led to the discovery of Mack’s dismembered body inside a 1.5-meter freezer.
Region 2 Police and Nong Prue Police subsequently arrested the main suspect, German national Olaf Thorsten Brinkmann, 52, along with two accomplices: Petra Christl Grundgreif, 54, also German, and Shahrukh Karim Uddin, 27, a Thai national of Pakistani descent. The group lured Mack to his death, dismembered his body with plans to dispose of it at sea, and transferred 3.35 million baht from his account.
Investigators managed to recover 1.25 million baht of the stolen money for the victim’s family. The prosecution built a strong case using witness testimonies, documentary evidence, physical evidence, and forensic science, establishing a clear connection between the three suspects from the planning stage through to their arrest.
In the December 20 verdict, the Pattaya Provincial Court found all three defendants guilty of premeditated murder and concealing a body. During the trial, Brinkmann and Grundgreif confessed to the crimes, while Uddin maintained his innocence throughout. While all three were initially sentenced to death, the court reduced the sentences for Brinkmann and Grundgreif to life imprisonment due to their confessions.
In a related case, on November 22, 2023, the court sentenced another German national, Enrico, to six years in prison for money laundering and receiving stolen property after he accepted money transfers from Brinkmann connected to the crime.
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