Crime
Mystery Surrounds Wirral Millionaire David Farrell’s Death
Chiangrai Times – A police investigation is currently probing whether 72-year-old David Farrell – who was found naked with bruises on his body – was murdered or the victim of a tragic accident.
His daughters, who flew to Thailand to say their final goodbyes to their dad, suspect foul play.
Lois and Nikki Farrell are particularly concerned about the changing of the will and said they cannot rest until they get to the bottom of what happened to their dad.
Apparently David Farrell changed his will four days before he was found dead in his luxury home in Thailand
Mr Farrell’s body was discovered in his Pattaya home and he was cremated in a three-day funeral there.
His daughters and the Thai police are awaiting the results of a post mortem.
But Nikki, who runs a hairdressing business, said: “We have a British lawyer in Pattaya who is trying to help us get to the bottom of what went on.
“The police are swaying towards it being an accident, trying to say he was in bad health, but we have a medical report which says otherwise. Three weeks before his death he had an MoT at Bangkok hospital which gave him a clean bill of heath.
“I spoke to my father on a Wednesday and he was fine. He died on the following Monday. When I spoke to him he was quite worried. He said he had big problems but did not specify what they were.
“He said he went to hospital with chest pains because he thought he was having a heart attack but got the all-clear. They said it was stress.
“From our conversation I was in no doubt he meant his problems were not health problems – something else was going on.”
The sisers plan to return to Thailand to see if they can gather any more clues as to how Mr Farrell.
They said a visit to their dad’s house had already unearthed findings which did not add up to his death being accidental.
They brought Mr Farrell’s ashes home and plan to have a memorial service for him in Wirral.
Police from Sattahip police station, in Chonburi province, were said to have been notified of Mr Farrell’s death at around 2.30pm on Monday July 30.
Mr Farrell lived in the Baan Bang Saray market area of Pattaya in a three-storey house with a swimming pool.
Nikki said an early morning phone call from his ex-wife Koranit Chuangchai, 33, gave her the devastating news.
She said: “It was 6.45am here, about 1pm in dad’s part of Thailand. The call was from his ex-wife to say he had been found dead. I was violently sick. I could not speak. It was a big shock.”
The sisters said their dad’s body was discovered by an English friend and neighbour who became concerned when they did not see Mr Farrell as they usually did on a Saturday.
When the neighbour knocked and got no answer on Monday he climbed over a wall and found Mr Farrell’s body.
Mr Farrell lived in a sleepy fishing village south of the main resort of Pattaya.
His daughters said he fell in love with Thailand after going there on holiday with a friend he worked with at Liverpool’s Stanley Dock market.
He met a Thai nurse and, with his children grown up and his parents no longer around to look after, they got married about six years ago.
The couple had a daughter, Lucinda Edith, who will be four in October, but split three months before he died.
Mr Farrell grew up in Gloucester Road, Wallasey, and worked as a roofer for the family business W.H. Farrell Roofing and Building. He later became a succcessful property developer.
Nikki said her dad, a grandfather-of-four who also lived in Wellington Road, New Brighton, and Seabank Road, Wallasey, was well known in Wirral, especially during the 1960s. He drove a Rolls Royce and people sometimes mistook him for George Best.
She said: “He thought he was a rock star. Women threw themselves at him. He even signed autographs as George Best. He had a big fur coat. He was once mistaken for John Lennon because of his Rolls Royce.
“But despite that he was also shy and reserved. He was a very private man. He was loyal. He had a wide circle of people he knew but was only close to a couple of friends.”
Lois, who works with children with disabilities for Wiral council, said the emotional toll his death had taken on the family was “horrendous”.
She added: “He was young at heart. He loved good food and wine. He was just our dad. I went over to see him every year.
“It is horrendous. I needed to go over and see it to believe it.
“The thought he could have been murdered just fills me with horror. We will never give up searching for answers.”
