Thai police probing the killing of a Brit father choked to death by an opera-singing bodybuilder now say he was murdered after his wife re-enacted the fatal attack.
Amitpal Singh Bajaj was on holiday with his family on the Thai island of Phuket when Roger Bullman burst into his bedroom after singing on his balcony at about 3.30am.
Bullman then throttled the 34-year-old IT expert in front of his terrified wife Bandhna Kaur Bajaj, and their two-year-old son.
Bullman, a heavy-set martial arts expert from Norway, was arrested and charged with manslaughter – but went on the run before appearing in court.
Police in Thailand now say the killing of British father-of-one Amitpal Singh Bajaj (with his wife) during a 3am row over his assailant’s opera-singing on the next door balcony was murder
Roger Bullman, 54, (pictured) has admitted choking to death Mr Bajaj during the fight in September – but said he was acting in self defence. He was released on bail before absconding
Mr Bajaj’s grieving widow Bandhna Kaur Bajaj then returned to Thailand to show police (pictured) how Bullman broke into their hotel room and throttled her husband of ten years
Mrs Bajaj’s reconstruction (above) has convinced detectives in Thailand that her husband was murdered and have now upgraded the charges against Bullman from manslaughter
Now detectives in Thailand have upgraded their inquiry after Mr Bajaj’s grieving widow bravely relived the attack at the five star Centara Grand Hotel in September.
Mrs Bajaj, 34, secretly flew back to Thailand to help police re-enact her husband’s last moments as he struggled with the former bodyguard.
She showed officers how Bullman barged into their room through the balcony doors to where she and her husband of ten years had been sleeping.
She said Mr Bajaj, from Southall, London, told her to grab their young son, Veer, and ‘go, go go’ while he grappled with Bullman.
Walking onto a landing, she told officers how her husband’s body was found outside their hotel room door minutes later.
Bullman was discovered by police sitting crying beside him having held him in a stranglehold from behind.
Mr Bajaj was killed in front of his wife (pictured) and their two-year-old son when Bullman burst into their room after apparently singing opera on the balcony on the room next door to theirs
Mr Bajaj, from London, had been living in Singapore when he and his wife went on holiday to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary at the five star Centara Grand Hotel in September
He said he had met with his client over the last few weeks but would not say where.
Bullman apparently used an ATM in Phuket ten days after he killed Mr Bajaj then went into hiding.
While on the run he applied for a new passport at the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Bullman’s partner Elwira Olsen sold their two bedroom flat (above) outside Oslo last month and moved out with their young daughter
The mystery surrounding his whereabouts deepened after his partner Elwira Olsen, with whom he has a young daughter, sold their flat last month without telling neighbours where she was going.
She and Bullman had lived on the outskirts of Oslo for several years in a two bedroom flat surrounded by woodland.
He worked with psychiatric patients at a local medical facility and would walk the couple’s dog around the woods in his spare time.
One neighbour said: ‘I would say he was a friendly man. He was a big guy but never any trouble at all. He also looked after Elwira’s daughter.’
In her reconstruction Mrs Bajaj told police that she and her husband had heard a woman screaming from Bullman’s room and objects being thrown.
They prayed for her and decided not to get involved before trying to sleep.
She said she could not sleep and in the early hours, Bullman burst into their room making ‘animal noises and grunting’ before attacking her husband.
Mrs Bajaj, 34, a mother-of-one has previously told of the horror of seeing her husband die
Bullman was pictured in a hotel swimming pool in Thailand shortly before he went on the run
A family source said: ‘Her sole purpose was to let the police see that this was not a case of self-defence, but one of murder.
‘She was shocked and very upset when she learned that Bullman had been freed on bail and feared he would disappear… and he did just that.
‘If only the Thai police had given more thought about releasing him, he would have been before a judge now and the case would have proceeded.
‘Now she has to wait and hope. She wants the public in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to keep an eye out for Bullman.
‘He may have changed his appearance and shaved his beard. But he has very distinctive tattoos. Somebody will see him and they should inform their local police.’