PHUKET – Police in Phuket investigating the murder of 41-year-old Russian national Mr. Artur Mkhitarian have found that the Tajikistani suspect has fled Thailand for Turkey.
The body of Mr. Mkhitarian was discovered on Wednesday morning at a rented house on a hill at Soi Chao Fah 67, Chalong Sub-district. He had been stabbed to death. Police believe that Mr. Mkhitarian was murdered between 20 hours before his body was discovered on March 13.
The victim’s wife, Miss Anna, had reported him missing on Tuesday evening after he failed to return home. She and a friend, Mr. Axandr, contacted the car rental company that Mr. Mkhitarian had used, and they were able to track the car’s GPS to the marijuana farm where the body was found.
Witnesses living near the scene of the crime reported hearing a commotion on the night of the murder, March 12, but they were unable to understand what was being said as the people involved were not speaking Thai.
Mr. Mkhitarian had arrived in Phuket on January 28, 2024, and his visa was due to expire on April 26, 2024. Miss Anna, 32, said that she and her husband had been living in Phuket with his parents and their two children. She last saw her husband alive on March 12 and she was unable to contact him after 5:00 pm that day.
Miss Anna reported her husband missing to the police, and they were able to track the car’s GPS to the marijuana farm. The body was found inside the house.
Police believe that the house where the murder took place was rented by a Thai woman named Ms. Khanitha, who has a foreign boyfriend. A Tajikistani national named Mr. Bakhtovar Murozoda was also staying at the house. He fled the house after Mr. Mkhitarian disappeared and took a flight from Phuket airport to Istanbul, Turkey at 9:38 pm on March 12.
On March 14, police officers found a red Honda PCX motorcycle that the suspect had abandoned at Phuket International Airport on the international side. They examined it for latent fingerprints and blood stains.
According to CCTV footage, moreover, Mr. Murozoda was the only person there in the house when the incident occurred. Mr. Murozoda left the residence alone, but Mr. Mkhitarian did not, and he was later found dead.
The police then petitioned the court to approve the arrest warrant. The court authorised it on March 14, 2024, to arrest Mr. Murozoda for the crime of “intentionally killing another person.” The police will work with Interpol officers to apprehend the accused.
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