Mekong Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Thai carer 'beat lover to death with hammer after will changed' A carer ''brutally'' beat her lover to death in a ''deliberate and sustained'' hammer attack after he changed his will to leave her a £340,000 legacy, a court has heard. Paul Norfolk, 77, was found dead in his blood-splattered bed at his home in Castle Lane, Haverhill, Suffolk, when police entered the house on December 30, prosecutor Andrew Jackson told Ipswich Crown Court. Alongside him police found the badly injured defendant, Bunthawee Rimmer. Less than three months before his death, Mr Norfolk had changed his will to leave his house and most of his money to Rimmer instead of his wife, who was in a care home. Rimmer, 49, originally from Thailand and who claimed she was in a relationship with Mr Norfolk, is alleged to have beaten Mr Norfolk to death as he slept. She denies murder. Mr Jackson said Mr Norfolk had lain injured and unconscious but alive for 15 hours following the attack. Rimmer did nothing to seek help, he added. ''You may think money played a rather important role,'' Mr Jackson told jurors. ''Whether or not she killed him for his money only she knows.'' He added: ''She did it by raining blows on to his head using a 16oz claw hammer. He did not move, he did not struggle. ''He was probably asleep when he was murdered.'' After the alleged attack, Rimmer drank toilet cleaner, stabbed herself in the chest, slashed her own throat and swallowed tablets, the prosecutor added. When interviewed by police, she claimed she had begun a relationship with Mr Norfolk and said he had been abusive towards her. Rimmer, also known as Pacer, had moved into Mr Norfolk's home in late 2010 to help care for his wife, Esme, shortly after the death of her husband, Geoffrey Rimmer. Mr Rimmer, who died from natural causes, was a close friend of Mr Norfolk and the pair had travelled to Thailand regularly during the 1990s. Mr Rimmer met the defendant in Thailand and she moved to the UK before marrying him in 1998. Mr Jackson told the court that Mrs Rimmer had inherited her late husband's pension but his family had wanted her to move out of the marital home, also in Castle Lane. At his funeral, Rimmer is said to have told family members she had ''three men'' interested in her and one ''lived up the road'' - a reference, the prosecution said, to Mr Norfolk. Within months Rimmer had moved into Mr and Mrs Norfolk's home and began caring for Esme, who survives her husband. Mrs Norfolk had suffered a stroke and the early onset of dementia, the court heard. Rimmer remained in the home after Mrs Norfolk moved into residential care. Mr Norfolk first changed his will in early 2011 to leave his house to Rimmer and then again in October 2011 to leave her any cash left in the estate. A solicitor, Sarah Furlong, had raised concerns about Mr Norfolk's capacity to make decisions over his estate but later agreed to make the changes, the court heard. All of his assets, apart from small sums left to family members, were to go to Rimmer. Shortly before his death Mr Norfolk transferred a sum of money to a Thai bank account, Mr Jackson said. ''He was not seen alive again,'' he added. Mr Jackson told jurors: ''You will hear claims that she was suffering from some form of mental illness, some form of depression, at the time.'' But he added: ''This was a quite deliberate, brutal and sustained attack - at least 12 blows with that hammer which would have taken some time.'' Mr and Mrs Norfolk had lived in their Castle Lane home for more than 40 years and had no children. Mr Norfolk and Mr Rimmer had worked together at a fragrance manufacturing company in Haverhill. The pair began travelling to countries including Thailand, Vietnam and Burma after the death of Mr Rimmer's first wife. The case is expected to last up to three weeks. My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi, I know you probably didn't mean to generalize with your header, but this kind of stuff can happen with any nationality. Greed and ruthlessness are the factors involved, not nationality. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi, I know you probably didn't mean to generalize with your header, but this kind of stuff can happen with any nationality. Greed and ruthlessness are the factors involved, not nationality. Sanuk! I am not too sure, maybe it is because of my ties to Thailand that I pick up on stories like this but it does seem more prevalent occurrence with Thai females than any other nationality. I am just glad that my soon to be ex did not realize how much she would have stood to gain if I had met my demise when we were together and only tried to rip me off instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi, Likely just as you said the ties. Kinda like when you buy a new car all of a sudden you notice the same type all over the place Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 So she murdered him so she would inherit his money, then tried to commit suicide so she would die rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I am not too sure, maybe it is because of my ties to Thailand that I pick up on stories like this but it does seem more prevalent occurrence with Thai females than any other nationality. We just had a story in Germany where a guy hired a hitman for 1.000 € for to kill his ex-girlfriend for her 245.000 € life insurance. This happened in the upper-middle class... http://www.spiegel.d...t-a-841813.html (German language) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I agree with Kamui that Germans are about as greedy and money driven as Thai females! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I agree with Kamui that Germans are about as greedy and money driven as Thai females! For this comment you have to pay me at least one beer should we ever meet in BKK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 So she murdered him so she would inherit his money, then tried to commit suicide so she would die rich. Guess she figured it would keep until she came back for the next go around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadfly Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi, I know you probably didn't mean to generalize with your header, but this kind of stuff can happen with any nationality. Greed and ruthlessness are the factors involved, not nationality. Sanuk! Its not true of every single Thai, but it is clearly more prevalent with Thais. Just ask a Thai who has spent enough time in the West. The murder rate here is much higher than in the US (which has a higher rate than Europe). And we know how the Thai police and local pathologists treat homicides: "heart stopped". And no further inquiry needed or wanted. The UK prosecutor obviously thinks she inflicted wounds on her self to fabricate a claim of justified homicide. But look at the description of the guy who was hammered to death. He doesn't sound capable of inflicting the "wounds" she suffered. Its up to a UK jury to decide (rather than a corrupt Thai court, thank God), but based on what I see here I think suspicion is justified. At the end of the day, its up to a UK jury to decide if she is guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. And I trust a UK or US jury to properly make this assessment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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