Thai authorities issue warrant for Israeli murder suspect

Businessman Moshe David allegedly killed his former partner; police looking for additional bodies

By Aaron Kalman 4 December 2012, 9:26 pm 0 Edit

Aaron Kalman is a former writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel

A photograph of suspected killer Moshe David distributed by Thai police and aired on local media (screen capture Channel 2)

Thai police this week issued an arrest warrant for Moshe David, an Israeli-Hungarian businessman suspected of killing his former business partner and disposing of the body in a rubber grove near Phuket. Officials said finding David might be the key to solving multiple other unsolved disappearances.

Hungarian-national Peter Reisz, 47, was found beaten to death in a grove on the Thai island last week. He identity was confirmed on Sunday.

Police said Reisz had filled a complaint, claiming David had threatened him and that he feared for his life, days before Reisz disappeared.

The discovery of Reisz’s body could be a key to investigating ”many, many disappearances,” Colonel Kaithong Janthongbai told the Bangkok Post, saying the police had some “useful leads.”

David’s wife, 40-year-old Thai national Duangjit Chuanjit, was questioned by the police and denied involvement in Reisz’s violent death. Chuanjit confirmed her husband had fallen out with his partner not long before Reisz disappeared, the Phuket Wan reported.