The third and last suspect in the Pattaya “barrel murder” case has been arrested in Vietnam and extradited to South Korea after four months on the run.
The suspect in his 30s was sent home on Tuesday after Vietnamese police arrested him on Sept 12, the Yonhap news agency said, citing South Korea’s National Police Agency.
The raid in Vietnam took place after South Korean law enforcement officers received information on his hiding place, alerted their Vietnamese partners and even travelled to Vietnam for the operation, the news agency added.
South Korean police did not name the suspect.
Thai police had earlier identified him as Kim Hyeong-won and said he was believed to have escaped Thailand to Myanmar after he and two others killed Roh Eui-jong in May.
The killers put the body of the victim in a plastic barrel and dropped it into the Map Prachan reservoir in Bang Lamung district in Chon Buri, near Pattaya.
The two other suspects arrested earlier and extradited to South Korea were Lee Roun, in his 20s, and Lee Yong-jin, 27, according to Thai police. They are on trial in a South Korean court.
The motive for the murder remains unclear.
