Inside massage parlour where top Aussie lawyer found dead
Mr Saines was holidaying with his wife, Chantho, and their two children on the popular southern island of Koh Samui
Authorities say initial inquiries suggest the 'deeply loved and devoted' father died from heart failure.
Lieutenant Colonel Phumaret Inkong of Bo Phut Police Station told journalists that officers found a small ziplock bag containing a white powder in Mr Saines' trouser pocket, and until the substance, suspected to be cocaine, is tested and results confirmed, police will keep an open mind.
A police source said the results were still a couple of days away.
Mr Saines was last seen barefoot and with a beer in hand before he entered Siam Touch Massage in Bo Phut late on Sunday night.
It is understood the 43-year-old chief executive of Brisbane firm GLG, left the 17-room property in the tourist area overlooking Chaweng Beach late on Sunday night.
He arrived at the parlour alone, apparently opting for a 400 baht – $A18 – traditional oil massage.
Col Phumaret Inkong said that after Mr Saines finished getting the massage, he got dressed and went to the bathroom.
'Then, he asked to sit and rest on the bed for a moment, and he simply fell asleep,' he said, according to Asia Pacific Press.
'The masseuse said that he was snoring so loudly that they had to ask the guests nearby if they wanted to change rooms.
'He stayed like that until around 3am, when the shop closed, and the masseuse left him to sleep in the room.'
Mr Inkong said around 6am, she came back up to wake him, but he didn't respond.
'She then called her friend to help check on him. That's when they discovered that he had passed away. It's believed that he died sometime after 4am.'
Masseuse Premyupa, 47, told local media after she finished the massage around 1.10am, Mr Saines, who paid in cash, asked to rest on the bed.
'I went to serve another customer and when I came back around 10 minutes later, he was asleep,' she continued.
'He was still snoring around 4am, so I didn't wake him.'
Ms Premyupa told local outlet Thaiger when she returned to wake him two hours later, he was cold and unconscious.
She said it was around 6.20am when she tried to wake him, adding he was not breathing.
'I panicked and called the other staff for help.'
Mr Inkong said when police arrived at the scene, Mr Saines 'was already lying dead', adding 'there was no foam at the mouth'.
Lieutenant Colonel Inkong said the masseuse reported no injuries, and the massage 'proceeded normally without incident.'
While there were no CCTV cameras inside the massage parlour, which reportedly also offers sexual services, police found footage outside the shop which showed Mr Saines arriving without shoes and carrying a can of beer.
Officials investigating massage parlour
Officials are investigating whether the parlour, housed in a three-storey commercial building, is licensed to operate.
News.com.au understands the massage parlour, not currently listed on Google, only opened in June this year.
The building is also home to Samui Green Hotel, which did not have any information regarding Mr Saines' death when contacted by news.com.au.
Images show several rooms inside the parlour including the alleged private room Mr Saines was found unresponsive.
Police and medics from Koh Samui Hospital found him lying horizontally across a narrow bed with his legs dangling over the side.
Mr Inkong said there were no signs of physical struggle.
'The masseuse had no injuries either. The massage proceeded normally,' he said.
Initial inquiries suggest the 43-year-old died of heart failure. His body was taken to the Surat Thani Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Staff from villa searched for Mr Saines
When staff at the luxury hotel noticed Mr Saines had not returned to the villa on Sunday night, they started to look for him.
'The hotel staff noticed the guest was missing, so they went out to look for him,' Mr Inkong said.
Police said that the staff 'did not show any suspicious behaviour' and his wife, Chantho, had not raised any concerns with officers about foul play.
News.com.au has contacted the villa for comment.
Heartbreak over Mr Saines' death
Mr Saines' wife, Chantho, was informed of his death about 3pm on Monday. The family were staying at the luxury villa during there time on the island.
Shocked staff at the late lawyer's firm – GLG – told news.com.au he was expected back at work next week.
A statement sent to news.com.au by GLG Legal said the family of Mr Saines was overwhelmed by grief, and that the 43-year-old was 'deeply loved'.
'It is with unimaginable sorrow that we confirm the sudden passing of a beloved son, brother, husband, father, friend, and colleague, Christopher Saines, who died earlier this week while on holiday with his family in Thailand,' the statement read.
'Christopher was a deeply loved member of our family and a remarkable person whose presence brought light to us.
'At just 43, Christopher had already made a profound impact through his professional achievements and his unwavering commitment to the people and causes he cared about most. He lived with purpose, passion, and drive.
'Christopher leaves behind his loving wife and two young children. He was a dedicated family man and a remarkable father. He will be remembered by us as a warm, loving, and caring person.
'We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support we've received during this incredibly painful time from our friends, colleagues, and the broader public.'
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family.
Mr Saines was the leading commercial and property law solicitor at Brisbane-based firm, GLG.
According to his LinkedIn he has been a CEO at the firm for 10 years. He was also an Advisory Board Member of Aged Care Reviews and a committee member of the International Bar Association.
DFAT have been contacted for comment on Australia's involvement in the investigation and arrangements for Mr Saines to be returned to his homeland.
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ABC News
4 days ago
- ABC News
Where have all the serial killers gone?
Sana Qadar: A quick warning before today's show, this episode is about serial killers, so it does get a bit dark. We touch on some heavy themes like sexual assault, child abuse, suicide and yes, murder. It also contains the names of Aboriginal people who have died. Do take care while listening to this one. Sana Qadar: So a bit of behind the scenes backstory to begin with. This is our final episode in our series, Criminal Psychology on All in the Mind. And we, the team here, we hesitated for a while on whether to do an episode on serial killers. Like we thought, hasn't enough been said? Haven't the plethora of true crime pods and documentaries and YouTube videos covered it all? Clips from social media: So let's get into the murders. You know why if he had two kids? I mean, how could he be a serial killer? We can look at one of Thailand's earliest known serial killers. Sana Qadar: Like is there anything new left to say? Clips from social media: He had shame because his mother made him feel shameful. Most serial killers suffer from some kind of personality disorder, usually psychopathy. Sana Qadar: And depending on just how obsessed you are with the true crime genre, the answer might be no. There's nothing new to say. You're across it all. But as we mulled over this topic, we wondered, why are all the serial killers we talk about, like Ivan Milat, the Backpacker Killer, Bradley Edwards, the Claremont Killer, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy in the US, why are they all from decades ago? Like, when was the last time you saw a headline about a killer actively stalking a suburb or a patch of rural land? Archival news audio: Their bodies were found in the Belanglo State Forest in the New South Wales Southern Highlands. Archival news audio: Bundy, a former law student, conducted his own defense. Sana Qadar: So, are serial killers disappearing? And if so, why? Dr Rajan Darjee: My job as a forensic psychiatrist is to make sure the people I work with don't hurt people. And that's my primary responsibility. Sana Qadar: Today, from the lead crime hypothesis to chemical castration, we find out where all the serial killers have gone and what they might be doing instead. Dr Xanthe Mallett: You know, they are the worst of the worst. They are the bogeyman that we all fear. Sana Qadar: I'm Sana Qadar. This is Criminal Psychology on All in the Mind. Sana Qadar: So first off, I can confirm, we're not imagining this trend. Dr Rajan Darjee: The number of serial killers is definitely going down, or number of serial killings is going down. And we've seen that pattern in North America. We've seen it here. We've also seen it in places like the UK. So, it looks like serial killing peaked in the 70s and 80s and has been going down since then. And certainly, it's at a lower level now than it was, say, 20 or 30 years ago. Sana Qadar: This is Dr. Rajan Darjee. Dr Rajan Darjee: I'm a forensic psychiatrist. I'm based in Melbourne, and I'm the clinical director of Forensic Behavioral Assessment and Consultation Services. Sana Qadar: He has dealt with serial killers in his work, as well as killers he suspects would have gone on to become the serial variety if they hadn't been caught. Dr Rajan Darjee: I would say, just in terms of the people that I've seen, probably about one or two a year where I think the person would potentially have killed again. And that's because there's been something about them that drives them to kill, usually because they take pleasure in killing and it meets a need for them. But also, they have this profound lack of empathy. Sana Qadar: He says it's interesting to think about why there might be fewer cases of serial killers now, because it's not like those two characteristics have disappeared or even diminished. Dr Rajan Darjee: And so, there's two things that I think is important in their makeup. One is having the desire to kill. But having the desire to kill isn't enough. You have to also lack empathy, because empathy is the thing that puts the brakes on us doing things that might hurt other people or things that might get us into trouble. And the things that lead to those things are things like psychopathic personality traits. So, that's what leads to a lack of empathy. Now, that is probably no more or less common now than it was in the past, because that's largely due to inherited genetic factors and early upbringing. And in terms of the desire to kill, that can be based on all sorts of things. So, about 50% of people who commit serial murder, the desire to kill is based on sexual fantasies of killing. Sana Qadar: What was the percentage you said? Dr Rajan Darjee: About half of people who commit serial murder, it's sexually motivated. Sana Qadar: As for the other half, Dr. Darjee says a number of motivators can be at play. The person might get a thrill out of killing and a sense of power, or they might be a hitman. So, it's part of the job description. But to come back to the sexual motivation... Dr Rajan Darjee: So, and actually having a sexual desire to hurt other people probably isn't any more or less common now than it was before. So, what you're probably looking at in terms of why we have less serial killings now is things that mean people get caught after one murder. Sana Qadar: The obvious factors are advances in DNA science, advances in surveillance technology and CCTV, better policing. But Dr. Darjee says there are some less obvious factors at play as well. Dr Rajan Darjee: So, for example, if you look at what we've been doing since the 1990s, we are much better at actually how we treat and manage people who've committed offences. And I think we'd be much more, I'd call it evidence-based, but we're doing it based on what we know about patterns of behaviour. The other thing is, I think society in general, you know, we always talk about good old days, but there's no good old days. If you look backwards, every period before has been worse than now in terms of violence and abuse. And, you know, we've got things in society we just didn't have in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up. Sana Qadar: Like, what do you mean by that? Dr Rajan Darjee: Things like we actually have fairly well-developed child protection systems. We probably have a society where we're more willing to help each other, but also, and I think we have to be careful about this, we now live at a time where we're probably a bit less relaxed about letting children go out. We're probably a bit more cautious in general about how we go about our lives. And I think all of these things make it more difficult for people who want to target victims to be able to target victims. Sana Qadar: Yeah, I've read about things like how, you know, in the 60s, 70s, hitchhiking was very common. And so that lent to a lot of, you know, people falling victim. People were more likely to leave their doors unlocked kind of thing. So do you think that, yeah, that all plays into the fact that we're much more cautious now actually means there's less opportunity to be a victim of a serial killer? Dr Rajan Darjee: Yes, absolutely. You know, this idea that it was, you know, people left their doors and windows open in the past. That was not a good thing. You know, because people kind of say, well, I used to leave my doors open because things were so much safer. They weren't. Sana Qadar: Yeah. Dr Rajan Darjee: It's just because people used to do that. And therefore it just means people have got access to you if they want to harm you. I mean, hitchhiking was fairly common. I remember actually going hitchhiking myself in the UK back in the 80s, just because people hitchhike. It wasn't seen as a big deal, but I don't see people hitchhiking these days at all. And hitchhiking makes people vulnerable. And we saw that with the Ivan Millat case. Archival news audio: Two bodies were found today in a forest southwest of Sydney, near where the bodies... Sana Qadar: Ivan Milat. You cannot have a discussion about serial killers in Australia without talking about this man and his devastating crimes. Archival news audio: The police are anxious to make this search exhaustive. So they might be here in the Belanglo State Forest for some time. Sana Qadar: Between 1989 and 1992, Milat kidnapped and murdered at least seven young backpackers, aged 19 to 22, whose bodies were all found in the Belanglo State Forest between Sydney and Canberra. Archival news audio: Today, police confirmed the skeletal remains of the second body... Sana Qadar: They were British backpackers Caroline Clark and Joanne Walters, German backpackers Gabor Neugebauer, Anja Habscheid and Simone Schmidl, and Melbourne couple Deborah Everest and James Gibson. Sana Qadar: They'd all been hitchhiking when they were picked up by Milat. Sana Qadar: Okay, so in terms of why there might be fewer serial killers now, there's a confluence of factors. One is surveillance is better than it was before. We have DNA science. People are behaving differently, we're more cautious. But you also mentioned treatment has improved. Dr Rajan Darjee: Yeah, absolutely. I think if you kind of think of people who might commit serial murder, they might start by committing, say, violent sexual offences. They might move on to committing a homicide. And then if they were left to it, they would then go on to repeatedly do that. But if we were able to intervene earlier with people who commit violent rape offences or after they've committed a first murder, then we're less likely to have people who go on to commit a series of murders. Sana Qadar: And so how do you possibly treat these people? Can they be rehabilitated? Dr Rajan Darjee: Yes, I think they can be. But my starting point, if I see someone who's committed one murder and there's aspects of them that makes me think they've got a potential to commit another murder because, for example, they're sexually sadistic or psychopathic, then my starting point is to say, okay, unless we've got good evidence that we have managed to ameliorate what's going on with them, it's probably not gonna be safe for them to be back out in society. And then you have to think of, okay, what are the things that are driving them to hurt and kill people? And you have to look at what you can do to actually change those things. So, example, and this would apply to, I can think of three people I've met in three different jurisdictions that would fit this picture. So all three people I'm thinking of have been in prison for about 30 years. Sana Qadar: Oh, wow. Dr Rajan Darjee: They've been model prisoners. That's how they've been described. There haven't been problems with their behavior in prison for the last two decades. And people are saying, okay, they've been in prison for a long time now. We need to think about parole. And the thing is with those individuals, all have had sexual fancies that led to them doing what they did. One of them killed a child and two of them killed women. And so the thing is, although they were model prisoners, the question I ask myself is, okay, how do I know you haven't still got these sexual fancies? Now, one of them was saying, I do have these fancies, please help me. And he was tortured by them. One of them said, oh, I occasionally have these fancies, but most of the time I don't. And the other one denied having these fancies altogether. And my view in all of them was that we had to be sure that they weren't having these fancies. These fancies led to them killing people. And so what we did in all three cases is we offered them treatment with injectable, long acting, anti-libidinal medications. Sana Qadar: Like chemical castration? Dr Rajan Darjee: Yeah, that's what some people call it. But I don't like to call it that because there's kind of moralistic overtones and people can get a bit kind of, a bit punitive about it. I see it as a treatment that can offer people the opportunity to not have these fancies and urges. So the drugs that we give by injection, what they do is they basically, they down regulate the system in the body in men that is to do with testosterone. So it reduces testosterone to the level of a man who's been castrated. And what we know is you have to have testosterone in your brain to have sexual fancies and urges. And if you can take that away, then you're taking away the thing that motivates them to take pleasure from killing. And if they haven't got something that motivates them to take pleasure from killing, even if they still lack empathy, they're not going to seek pleasure from killing people. Now, it's not quite as simple as that because you want to make sure that you've done other things like all three of these individuals I'm thinking of all ends up being released to the community and they had a high level of monitoring and supervision by correctional services, police. There was lots going on around them. This isn't a case of, you know, you have the treatment, you're good to go and get on with your life. But they are people who've managed to be in the community with support and monitoring without hurting people. And if it wasn't for the drugs, in none of those cases would I have recommended that we even tried that. Sana Qadar: There is another theory for why we have fewer serial killers now and fewer violent crimes in general that has nothing to do with treatment or surveillance or DNA or a more cautious approach to strangers. It's called the lead crime hypothesis. It goes something like this. Before the 1980s, there was lead in gasoline, in water pipes, in paint, all over the environment. And exposure to lead, especially in childhood, has been linked to aggression and antisocial behavior. But since lead was phased out of fuel in particular, that has coincided with a steady decline in violent crime across the Western world. It's been most pronounced in the US where the homicide rate has halved since the 1980s. It's a compelling theory and a new book called Murderland from Pulitzer Prize winning author Caroline Frazier dives into it in immense detail. But compelling as it may be, Dr. Darjee isn't convinced. Dr Rajan Darjee: I think that if that has contributed, it's going to be a relatively minor contribution in the overall picture. You know, you can't take one factor like that and say that's the magic bullet. So, you know, it probably is a good idea that we don't get some degree of lead poisoning now. And it's probably a good idea that all sorts of things that are toxic are less likely to be things that we consume. And that might have an impact, but I don't think, you know, the fact that we've got less lead in our pipes now is probably a major factor in reducing violence and reducing serial killing. Sana Qadar: Yeah, I was sort of looking into the research around this and I found, you know, there's one meta-analysis that was published in 2022 that led the researchers to estimate that the reduction in lead pollution might be responsible for 7% to 28% of the decline in homicide in the US. So, you know, a small portion, although if it's the upper bound of 28%, that is a sizable portion. Dr Rajan Darjee: I didn't know about that specific research, but, you know, it's interesting to think about that. Yeah, it might contribute, but the thing is with any kind of association like that, it's very difficult to know what's causing it. And I'm sure they took into account things that might confound that relation to some extent, but with something that's environmental like that, it's very difficult to take into account all the confounding factors. Sana Qadar: We do know that lead is related to, like, aggression, though, in children, isn't it? Dr Rajan Darjee: It may be, but again, it's not, you know, as a forensic psychiatrist, it's not a factor that I have in my head as one of the major factors. I think, you know, being exposed to alcohol at a young age is going to cause problems with brain development and may potentially lead to some people being aggressive. So there's all sorts of things that can be toxic to the developing brain and, you know, that can potentially lead to aggressive behaviour. Sana Qadar: So not a whole lot of buy-in from Dr. Darjee, at least, on the lead crime hypothesis, but I'll just mention that meta-analysis from 2022. It looked at 24 studies and despite finding that 7 to 28% of the reduction in homicide in the US might be down to the decrease in lead pollution, it also noted there is a strong bias in the literature, meaning studies that show a strong correlation between lead and crime are more likely to get published than those that find a weaker correlation. If you want to find out more, we'll link to that paper in our show notes. Sana Qadar: Okay, so we've been talking about why there seem to be fewer serial killers out there these days. You don't really hear stories about active serial killers. And one of the reasons is they just get caught earlier now, after their first kill, whereas in previous eras, they might've gone on to become serial killers. But while there aren't any active cases in Australia in the news right now, that doesn't mean there aren't any serial killers out there at the moment, somewhere. Of course, a negative is very hard to prove, but consider what criminologist Xanthe Mallett has to say. Sana Qadar: I'm wondering, do you think there are still serial killers out there who are managing to go undetected? Dr Xanthe Mallett: Yeah, I certainly do. I mean, if you look at Bradley Edwards, he went unidentified for decades. Sana Qadar: Bradley Edwards, I'll just explain briefly, is the man you might otherwise know as the Claremont Killer in Perth. He wasn't convicted until 2020, but his crimes were primarily in the mid-90s when he killed 23-year-old Jane Rimmer and 27-year-old Ciara Glennon. Both women had been enjoying a night out when they disappeared. He was also suspected in the murder of another woman, 18-year-old Sarah Spears, but her body was never found, and so there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of that crime. And his conviction took so long because of a series of convoluted events involving contaminated DNA before there was a DNA breakthrough leading to his arrest in 2016. Dr Xanthe Mallett: And I don't want to cause any, you know, I'm not saying that we're running rampant with serial killers. Fortunately, we haven't had that many in Australia. But certainly, you know, people do disappear. They are still traveling around Australia. There is a lot of outback out there. And so, yeah, I do think there will be possibly one or two active serial killers, you know, in Australia that are currently unidentified. And the patterns haven't been recognized. Sana Qadar: And I do wonder if there are these people going undetected at the moment, if it's because they are perhaps targeting people that society seems to ignore. So like sex workers, indigenous women, people struggling with addiction. Dr Xanthe Mallett: That's exactly where I was going. They may be people who are already vulnerable. They may be suffering homelessness, or as you say, sex workers, and certainly indigenous women are vulnerable. So yes, and I think as a society, we weight life, don't we? We value life differently. And you only look at the Bowraville killings. You have three children under 16 murdered in a small place in Bowraville. Now, if that had been on the eastern suburbs of Sydney, three little Caucasian children, it would have made news headlines around the world. But in Australia, it's like, you know, the detectives couldn't get any media interest because they were, and I don't mean this, but just indigenous children. And that's horrific that we could have a serial killer picking off children and nobody cares. Archival news audio: The bodies of four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-old Clinton Speedy were found in bushland. Sana Qadar: The Bowraville murders happened over a five-month period back in 1990 in the town of Bowraville on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Archival news audio: Colleen Walker, also 16, is still missing, presumed dead. Sana Qadar: All three children knew each other and all disappeared after attending parties on the same street in Bowraville. The youngest victim, four-year-old Evelyn, disappeared after being put to bed at her grandmother's house. But when the families reported the children's disappearances, local police suggested some of them had gone walkabout. Police were ready to end their search. Archival news audio: Then, the grim discovery yesterday of a child's skull... Dr Xanthe Mallett: You know, this investigation was very poor initially. There was a very poor relationship between the police and that indigenous community. Eventually, new officers did come on board and they really did push to solve that case. Sana Qadar: A local man was the prime suspect for a number of years and he was charged with two of the murders, but then later acquitted. And so, in this case, no-one has ever been caught. Dr Xanthe Mallett: And it's heartbreaking that those three families still don't have answers. All of these years later, and I've met Evelyn's grandmother, and she's a beautiful person, and she still suffers to this day as a result of not knowing who is responsible or nobody being brought to justice. Sana Qadar: You're listening to Criminal Psychology on All In The Mind. I'm Sana Qadar. Sana Qadar: If we go back to our original premise now, that there are fewer serial killers in general than there used to be, the question I have is, what are these people doing instead, now that they're not serial killing? Like, are they all just sitting in jail? Dr Xanthe Mallett: Some of them are sitting in jail, for sure. Sana Qadar: Or have some people been deterred by how much harder it's become to get away with this kind of crime? Dr Rajan Darjee: I don't think deterrence works for these people. Sana Qadar: Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Rajan Darjee again. Dr Rajan Darjee: I mean, there's actually not much evidence that deterrence works full stop in terms of, if you look at the criminological literature, certainly doesn't work for people who repeatedly commit offences, because if you look at people who commit serial murder, they go out of their way to plan to control their victims, and they show a high degree of forensic awareness. So we looked at serial sexual murderers in Australia and New Zealand, compared them to one-off sexual murderers. And as you'd expect, a very high level of planning, precautions, and forensic awareness in serial sexual murderers compared to single sexual murderers. So, I don't think deterrence necessarily works for these individuals. And then you think about other things. Are there some people who have the same developments, but they decide not to enact this in reality? And that might be the case. We know that, for example, just to skip across to another type of behaviour, there's less contact child sexual abuse now than there has been over the last 30 years. At the same time, there's been an escalation in online child sexual abuse material offending. One hypothesis, and I'm not saying this is proved, is that there are a number of people now who are living out their fantasies online rather than living them out in the real world. Now, that doesn't mean that's great because to have child sexual abuse material, children have to be abused. So, it's still related to children being abused, but you've got a potentially different pattern of offending in some of these individuals. And it's plausible, although I don't know how we'd prove it, that some people are moving to kind of enacting their fantasies because you can do that in more and more real ways in virtual environments. Sana Qadar: It's all really dark to think about, but I just want to throw one more idea out there from criminologist Xanthe Mallett. It's related to domestic violence, but this idea requires a reframe in how we think about serial killings. Dr Xanthe Mallett: People committing domestic family violence, you know, we had some really serious offenders in that group, serial offenders. So, one of the things I'm interested in at the moment, I actually work in Central Queensland Uni in a centre for domestic and family violence research, so it's a perfect question. One of the things I'm interested in are the serial perpetrators, especially when there's an outcome of suicide for the victim. More people are dying as a result of suicide than domestic violence-related homicide, and they're really hidden victims. So, there's no, at the moment, there's no consequence for the person who drove them to it. So, these women and children are suiciding as a last resort. And so, I'm interested in the people who are driving these, usually women, to those kind of lengths. And to me, they're a type of serial killer because people are dying as a result of their actions. Sana Qadar: Now, we've mostly focused on a particular type of serial killer in this episode, kind of like the archetype, the person that targets vulnerable strangers late at night or the person who might be sexually motivated. But there are other types as well, like healthcare-based serial killers, sometimes referred to as angels of death. And the one you probably can think of most readily is Lucy Letby, the nurse who was found guilty of killing a number of babies in the UK, although it's worth mentioning there are still questions around her case. Either way, I wanted to ask Dr. Darjee whether those types of serial killers are in decline as well and what we know about healthcare serial killers. Dr Rajan Darjee: I mean, I think all types of serial killer are in decline. When you think about people who do this in healthcare settings, again, there's something about killing that is a need for them. And in many of these cases, it's the need either to have the power of control over life and death, and it sometimes overlaps with something we see in factitious disorder by proxy or Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Sana Qadar: Just briefly, if you want to know more about Munchausen by proxy, that was the subject of episode one of our series on criminal psychology. Scroll back in your podcast feed to listen to that after this, if you haven't already. Dr Rajan Darjee: Where these individuals create a scenario where someone is close to death or going to die so that they can get involved in or see what happens. Sana Qadar: So the drama of it? Dr Rajan Darjee: Yes, to some extent, the drama of it, but also, as I say, that ability to have the power over life and death becomes something that's intensely important in that individual. So it's not a sexual need, it's that particular need. But again, there'll be reasons why these particular individuals lack empathy so that what they do is they act out their needs because there's no break on that at all. And that lack of empathy doesn't mean that people have got psychopathy. You can get lack of empathy because you're highly narcissistic even though you're not necessarily psychopathic. You can have lack of empathy because you're a very detached individual, someone that we might describe as schizoid. Sana Qadar: One question I want to ask is, you said your job is to make sure people don't hurt other people. I guess over your years working in forensic psychiatry, have you come to any conclusions or reflections on human nature? Like, how do you process these crimes, the worst that humans can do to each other? Dr Rajan Darjee: It's an interesting question because, look, and I'm trying to say this in the right way, I don't look at things through framework and morality. I don't think that's helpful. And so I describe myself as amoral, not immoral, because I don't think morality helps us. And I don't look at things through the view of evil because I don't think these kind of religious, superstitious concepts help us. I think it's really important for us to understand people, understand what we actually know about why people do things and how they function, because then we can do something about it. And perhaps, again, and I don't know whether this is just me or other people who work in a similar field, but I think you have to have the right balance of being able to disconnect yourself from what happens, but not lose sight of humans, both victims and perpetrators. And one of the things I always say with my work is I know the victims, I understand the victims, that's why I do what I do. But to actually prevent people being victimized, I have to know perpetrators. And that involves forming positive relationships with them because then I can work with them to prevent victims being caused. The why is the victims and the how is by understanding perpetrators. Sana Qadar: That is forensic psychiatrist Dr. Rajan Darjee. And that concludes our series, Criminal Psychology on All in the Mind. Although it's not all over yet. We thought there are so many angles on the topic of serial killers that we didn't cover in this episode. And there's so many angles left to explore in the other episodes in the series as well. So if you feel like you've been left with actually some burning questions you'd love to have answered, or if you're a giant true crime fan and have always wanted to ask a forensic psychiatrist some questions, we are gonna do a follow-up episode, a mailbag episode, where I will put your questions directly to Dr. Rajan Darjee. It'll be our first time trying this format. So please send your questions in. You can send them to mind_rn@ and put in the subject line, criminal psychology question. Again, the address is mind_rn@ And I will put your questions to Dr. Darjee in a couple of weeks. And if this is the first episode of Criminal Psychology you've listened to, there are three others. We've also covered Munchausen by proxy, arson and pyromania, and theft and kleptomania. You can scroll back in your podcast feed and find all four episodes. But for this episode, apart from Dr. Darjee, you also heard from associate professor of criminology at Central Queensland University, Dr. Xanthe Mallett. Thanks to producer Rose Kerr, senior producer James Bullen, and sound engineer Emrys Cronin. I'm Sana Qadar. Thank you for listening. I'll catch you next time.
News.com.au
5 days ago
- News.com.au
Australian man found dead in Pattaya, Thailand
An Australian man has been found dead in an apartment in Pattaya, Thailand. Perth man Michael Shane Caola, 54, was discovered on Thursday in a room at the Grand Shivalay apartment complex in the Thai city nicknamed 'sin city'. Police were called after Mr Caola's relatives in Australia alerted staff that he had not answered his phone for two days. Officers found no sign of a struggle and an investigation is now underway. Police Lieutenant Colonel Saijai Kamjulla of the Pattaya City Police Station said: 'The cause of the Australian man's death is still unknown and the results of the autopsy are pending. 'The case is currently under investigation, and further details cannot be disclosed at this time.' Apartment manager Thanchanok Prajit called authorities after finding Mr Caola's door locked. 'His family in Australia called the reception, saying they had been unable to contact him,' she said. 'He was a regular customer often seen exercising, probably to take care of his health.' A Swedish tourist was found dead in the same apartment complex two hours earlier, however police do not suspect the deaths are related. Mika Huotari, 38, was found in the bathtub with a wound to his head two floors below Mr Caola's room. Local media reports a woman was seen on CCTV leaving Mr Huotari's room.
ABC News
16-07-2025
- ABC News
Thai woman arrested for allegedly seducing and blackmailing Buddhist monks
Police in Thailand have arrested a woman who allegedly enticed a string of Buddhist monks into sexual relationships and then pressured them into making large payments to cover up their intimacy. The possible violation of the celibacy rule for monks has rocked Buddhist institutions and gripped public attention in Thailand in recent weeks. At least nine abbots and senior monks involved in the scandal have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau said. Wilawan Emsawat, was arrested at her home in Nonthaburi province north of the capital Bangkok on charges including extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods. Police said they traced money transferred to her by a senior monk from a bank account belonging to his temple in northern Thailand. Ms Emsawat has not made a statement since her arrest and it was unclear if she has legal representation. Speaking to local media before her arrest, she acknowledged one relationship and said she had given money to that monk. Scandals involving monks surface a few times a year in Thailand but usually don't involve senior members of the clergy. The case also puts a spotlight on the large sums of money donated to temples controlled by abbots, which is in marked contrast to the abstemious lives they are supposed to lead under their religion's precepts. Ms Emsawat, deliberately targeted senior monks for financial gain, police said, noting they found several monks had transferred large amounts of money after she initiated romantic relationships with them. Her bank accounts received around 385 million baht ($18.1 million) in the past three years, but most of the funds were spent on online gambling websites, police said. Jaroonkiat Pankaew, a Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner, said the investigation began last month after an abbot of a famous temple in Bangkok abruptly left the monkhood. Investigators found the abbot had allegedly been blackmailed by Ms Emsawat, over their romantic relationship. She told the monk that she was pregnant and asked him to pay 7.2 million baht ($339 million) in financial assistance, Mr Pankaew said at a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday. Police believed "this woman is dangerous and we needed to arrest her as soon as possible," Mr Pankaew said. Thai media reported a search of her mobile phones revealed tens of thousands of photos and videos, as well as numerous chat logs indicating intimacy with several monks, many of which could be used for blackmail. Thai monks are largely members of the Theravada sect, which requires them to be celibate and refrain from even touching a woman. Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai ordered authorities to review and consider tightening existing laws related to monks and temples, especially the transparency of temple finances, to restore faith in Buddhism, government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said Tuesday. The Central Investigation Bureau has set up a Facebook page for people to report monks who misbehave, Mr Pankaew said. "We will investigate monks across the country," he said. "I believe that the ripple effects of this investigation will lead to a lot of changes." AP
