Businessman arrested after girlfriend hacked to death in luxury Bangkok apartment
Sarah Newey
Tue, 16 May 2023 at 6:00 pm GMT+1·2-min read
Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow has been arrested by Bangkok police for the murder of Alona Savchenko - ViralPress
A businessman hacked his girlfriend apart with a handsaw and allegedly used Google translate to ask a taxi driver to help him dismember her for $44 (£35).
The pair - Alona Savchenko, a 24-year-old Ukrainian model, and her 25-year-old partner Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow - had been staying in a luxury condominium complex in Bangkok. But after a fortnight in the Thai capital, Ms Savchenko’s body was found carved up on the bed in the couple’s 32nd floor apartment.
Hotel staff became suspicious of Mr Lagoda-Filippow after the Polish tourist left the building on the morning of May 15 in a rush, dragging his luggage behind him. But it was not until the taxi driver he flagged down called the hotel to report his erratic and unnerving behaviour - Mr Lagoda-Filippow had allegedly used Google Translate to ask the driver for help cutting up a body - that staff checked the couple’s room.
They found a gruesome scene. Ms Savchenko’s face was covered in blood, while her head had been partially severed. Her left hand had been cut off at her wrist, and she had a stab wound on her chest. Next to her body was a two-foot long saw.
Thai police said it was likely that the young woman was dead for a day before she was discovered, and they suspect Mr Lagoda-Filippow - who has an advertising business registered in London - was trying to flee the country.
Jan Jerzy Lagoda-Filippow, 25, has been arrested by police in Thailand - ViralPress
A Bangkok police handout of Alona Savchenko, 24 - ViralPress/ViralPress
“We learned that he had hired a taxi to take him to Sa Kaeo province,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Pongpun Phonharn, from the Wat Phraya Krai district station. “He was likely trying to cross the border to Cambodia.”
Following the discovery, officers tracked down the taxi driver, Surachai Sabaibang, who raised the alarm.
“I picked up the suspicious passenger, who told me through Google Translate that he wanted to play at a casino,” Mr Sabaibang said. “When he could not find a suitable place to play, he then asked me through the app to help dismember his girlfriend's body for 1,500 baht (just over £35).”
Mr Lagoda-Filippow has now been arrested, and investigations remain ongoing.
“The suspect was very calm when he was arrested. It was about 4am when he was caught,” Pol Lt Pongpun Phonharn said. “He drank coffee as normal in his cell and started exercising, like it was his normal morning routine. He did not say anything.”
