Pattaya was once again the scene for a bizarre set of circumstances that
led to the murder of one of its long time residents. Australian expat,
Tony Brady, 50, was brutally murdered in his home mid Monday morning,
October 21, 1996. Sadly, Brady’s young daughter was home at the time and
witnessed the tragedy.
The suspect, Philip Jean King, who was
literally growling at the police, has his handcuffs removed so he can
receive treatment for the wounds he suffered while resisting arrest.
Philip Jean King, 55, a French tourist who had run out of money, was
arrested at the scene after a 15 minute struggle by police to subdue him
and confiscate the 6” Bowie knife he used as the murder weapon.
Ms Manas Damrongsak, 29, the victim’s wife, called police to the scene
when she returned home to find King sitting on her husband’s prone body,
stabbing him. She told police that when she cried for help, King got up
and seemed to want to kill her so she took her daughter and ran.
Ms. Manas testified that she had seen King walking aimlessly around
their Soi all morning, and that he seemed to be very agitated. She said
that she had gone out to buy a newspaper when the incident occurred.
Left: Manas Damrongsak, Brady’s distressed
wife, consults with police at Pattaya Memorial Hospital.
When police arrived, they found Brady crying in pain in front of the
room in which the incident took place. When Ms. Manas informed them that
the attacker was still there, hiding in the back of the room, officers
attempted to get the man to give himself up. This failing, they spread
out and blocked all avenues of retreat, then arrested the man by force.
When the assailant knew that his arrest was imminent, he attempted to
resist and attacked the officers with a 6 inch Bowie knife. It took
police 15 minutes to subdue the frenzied man, who had injured himself
with his own knife in his struggle with police. He was then taken to
Pattaya Police Station.
Police rushed Brady to Pattaya Memorial Hospital, but he was dead on
arrival with 17 stab wounds to his torso.
The alleged murderer confessed to police that his name was Philip Jean
King, 55, a French tourist. In a drunken state, he gave the following
testimony to police; He said had been on tour in Thailand for a few
days, the first two being spent in Bangkok. He then came to Pattaya,
where he stayed in a hotel until he ran out of money and was asked to
leave as he could not pay his bill. He then met a service girl named Tim
who, out of pity, let him stay in her room and gave him a bit of
spending money each day.
He wanted to return to France, but having no money to do this caused him
considerable anxiety. After a few days he could not sleep, so he decided
to try and beg money from other tourists to return to France.
While on his begging spree, he met Brady, who was unknown to him. Brady
refused to give him any money and told him to get away from his home.
King stated that this had made him very angry, so he took out his knife
and tried to threaten Brady, but met with strong resistance from the
Australian. He then began stabbing him in his torso. When he heard
Brady’s wife and children coming, he hid in the room and stayed there
until he was arrested.
The service girl whom King had been staying with said he had been a
regular customer of hers for about a week. She said that King told her
that he had been cheated of all his money by a Thai woman. She said he
refused to eat or sleep and drank only coffee, consuming an entire large
bottle of granulated coffee in one day.
King has been charged 1st degree murder.
Memorial services for Brady are being held on Friday, October 25, at Wat
Chai Wong Klon, across from the market near Day Night Hotel on South
Pattaya Road.
