Regional News
Murderer of Japanese Woman Awaji Megumi, Gets 9 Year Sentence after 19 Years Feedom
BANGKOK – The Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a former host bar worker, Veerasak Iempongsa to nine years in prison for the murder of a Japanese woman more than 19 years ago. Veerasak Iempongsa, 40, from Trang, was apprehended in Nakhon Si Thammarat in October 2012, just five months before the statute of limitations on the charges against him would have expired in March this year.
He was wanted by Japanese authorities for the murder of Awaji Megumi, 33, at her home in Youkawa Building in Tokyo’s Toshima ward on March 14, 1993, when Mr Veerasak, then 19-years-old, worked as a bar host in Shinjuku.
Awaji Megumi, 33It is the first case in which Thailand has issued an arrest warrant for a Thai suspect who committed a crime outside the country, after Japanese police sought help to arrest the fleeing suspect in April last year.
Japanese police passed the case and evidence over to their Thai counterparts, who decided to try and prosecute the suspect for the murder.
In 1993, Veerasak worked as a host at a bar in Japan where female customers pay for male company. He met Megumi there and she invited him to stay with her in her apartment.
The pair allegedly had an argument after he had been staying with her for four or five days. Veerasak claimed she was hot-tempered and would shout at him when she felt upset.
He said Megumi had lost a lot of money gambling on the day he killed her. She allegedly ridiculed him for being a sex worker, spat on him and called him a street dog.
According to police, this drove him to stab her in the neck and strangle her with a belt, then flee with her cash and valuables.
