Ms Pischa’s body was found dumped in the jungle in Wichit on Sunday (July 9). (See story here.)
The charges were read out to Papke as he lay in his hospital bed yesterday afternoon (July 11), an officer from Chalong Police Station confirmed to The Phuket News today.
Papke was also charged with concealing her body, the officer confirmed.
The German remains under police guard at Vachira Phuket Hospital after he attempted to slash his own throat with a box cutter when police moved to arrest him at his rented home in Rawai’s Saiyuan area on Sunday evening. (See story here.)
“Of course, I love Lek, she always told me to stay strong,” he told the The Phuket News’ Thai-language sister newspaper Khao Phuket. (See story here.)
Papke, who appeared sullen when interviewed, said that he and Ms Pischa had been in an “unstable relationship” for “about 3-4 months” and that they had a heated dispute on the night that Ms Pischa disappeared.
“Lek borrowed B20,000 from me and said that it had something to do with a car. However, she then told me that she no longer had feelings for me and that she missed her Israeli ex-boyfriend,” Papke said.
Asked if he was responsible for the death of Ms Pischa, Papke refused to answer.
During the course of the interview, police also told Khao Phuket that they still feared that Papke would try to escape custody.
Sgt Rashen Chookaew told reporters, “Last night, police officers who monitored the accused during the night shift recounted that in the middle of the night, Mr Papke got up and just stared into space for a long time.
“Officers were worried that Papke may attempt to escape during his hospital stay. So fellow police officers in charge of the operation were informed and we have added extra guards,” he said.
Meanwhile, a one-day funeral for Ms Pischa, originally from Kamphaeng Phet province, got underway at Chalong Temple yesterday with Thai and foreign friends and local residents from Rawai and Chalong paying their respects.
The cremation for Ms Pischa is set to take place today.
Ms Pischa’s sister, Bang-earn Onkorat, 40, said, “We do not want to keep Lek’s body for many days because it is not perfect. We just want to follow a simple religious funeral.
“Some of our relatives from Kamphaeng Phet are not able to come to the funeral, so the funeral is for one day only, this is what our mother requested,” she said.
– Additional reporting by Premkamon Ketsara