A Ukrainian model was found brutally torn to pieces with a saw in a luxury apartment in Thailand where she was staying with her Polish boyfriend – who allegedly used Google Translate to ask for help disposing of her body.
Alona Savchenko, 27, had moved into the Key Sathorn-Charoenraj apartment hotel in Bangkok with her partner Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow, 25, on April 29.
Lagoda-Filippow had a registered advertising business in Covent Garden in London’s West End, and Ms Savchenko had previously done photo shoots for him.
The couple looked happy as they entered the hotel together and CCTV footage from the hallway shows the couple smiling as they made their way to their room.
But security guards grew suspicious on the morning of May 15 when the Polish tourist left the building, alone and in a hurry, dragging his luggage with him and looking very nervous.
Lagoda-Filippow flagged down a taxi, whose driver Surachai Sabaibang then called the hotel to inform them of the Pole’s erratic behavior after his passenger allegedly used the Google Translate app to ask for help cutting up a body.
A bloodstained saw was found next to Alona Savchenko’s body by hotel staff and police
Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow, 25, is suspected of murdering his Ukrainian girlfriend. The Pole had a registered advertising business in Covent Garden in London’s West End
Thai paramedics transport Ms Savchenko’s body from the hotel
CCTV footage of Lagoda-Filippow exiting the hotel shows him shaking as he exits the elevator, dragging his suitcase behind him.
Following Mr Surachai’s call, hotel staff went to check on the couple’s room on the 32nd floor where they found the severed body of Ms Savchenko on the bed.
The young woman’s face was covered in blood and her left hand had been cut off at the wrist.
Her head had also been partially severed with a deep gash from the neck to the left shoulder, and paramedics discovered she had also been stabbed in the chest.
A 2-foot-long saw was covered in blood next to his body. Investigators believe Ms Savchenko had been dead for around a day before she was discovered, suggesting she was killed the weekend before the attempted escape from Lagoda-Filippow.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Pongpun Phonharn, of Wat Phraya Krai District Station, said: “The victim arrived at the condo with her boyfriend on April 29, but he left without her around noon on May 15.
“We learned that he had hired a taxi to take him to Sa Kaeo province. He was probably trying to cross the border into Cambodia.
The couple looked happy as they entered the hotel together and CCTV footage from the hallway shows the couple smiling as they walked to their room
Two weeks later, Lagoda-Filippow left the hotel in a hurry, dragging his luggage alone and looking nervous, according to CCTV footage and security guards.
Officers contacted the taxi driver, Mr. Surachai, for questioning after the discovery.
The driver said: ‘I picked up the suspicious passenger, who told me via Google Translate that he wanted to gamble at a casino. When he couldn’t find a suitable place to play, he then asked me through the app to help him dismember his girlfriend’s body for 1,500 baht ($44).
Disturbed by the alarming demand, Mr Surachai reportedly dropped Lagoda-Filippow off at a hotel in Bangkok’s Sathorn district before calling the hotel he was staying at.
Border officials were put on alert shortly after hotel staff discovered Ms Savchenko’s body and on Monday night Lagoda-Filippow was arrested at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint, 215km from there, in the province of Sa Kaeo.
He was detained at Wat Phraya Krai police station for questioning while police informed the Polish Embassy of his arrest. Investigations are ongoing.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Pongpun Phonharn added: “The suspect was very calm when he was arrested. It was around 4 a.m. this morning when he was caught.
“He drank coffee as usual in his cell and started exercising, as if it was his normal morning routine. He said nothing.
“We contacted the Polish Embassy and made arrangements for embassy officials to arrive later today.”
