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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
National

Fugitive Thai-French couple arrested for murder of Italian

Frenchman Amaury Rigaud, 33, (left) was arrested on Sunday evening and his Thai girlfriend Rujira Klaylamai, 38, (right) was caught on Monday morning.

A Thai woman and a Frenchman, wanted for the murder of the woman's Italian former lover 10 days ago in Phichit, have both been caught by police.

Amaury Rigaud, 33, was caught on Sunday evening at a camp in a forest where he and Rujira Klaylamai, 38, were hiding in northern Kamphaeng Phet province.

She fled but was arrested on Monday morning in a longan orchard in Wang Chao district of neighbouring Tak province.

Police said she was pretending to be a worker trimming branches off trees. She seemed exhausted after a night fleeing arrest on foot.

Police quoted Rigaud as alleging Ms Rujira and a Thai man murdered her ex-boyfriend, Giuseppe de Stefani, 61. At the time of the murder Rigaud was in a rented room in Pho Prathap Chang district of Phichit. He later helped her escape.   

De Stefani's body was discovered in a forest near Bueang Thap Chan, a freshwater pond in Bung Na Rang district of Phichit on Jan 19.

Police allege the couple killed de Stefani, cut up his body and burned it in a bonfire of rubber tyres near the reservoir. The Phichit Provincial Court issued warrants for their arrest last Wednesday as requested by police.

After a week on the run, the couple were tracked down in Kamphaeng Phet, where a local resident spotted the suspects' getaway car in the forest in Kosamphinakhon district, near Tak province.

In addition to a tent and other camping equipment, a Toyota Yaris with Samut Songkhram licence plates was found at the camp. The car was originally a bronze colour but had been repainted black. 

The French fugitive looked tired and scared. 

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