American woman and Swedish partner arrested 'for murdering baby girl by abandoning her under tree'
A couple were arrested for allegedly murdering a one-week-old baby girl by abandoning her to die under a tree in 34C temperatures in Thailand.
American woman Braiyden Lennox, 29, and her Swedish partner Karim Jaouadi, 39, reportedly carried out a bizarre tribal ritual before allegedly dumping the infant alongside a canal in Udon Thani.
The pair were captured on CCTV walking through a path away from the main road at around 9:16 am local time on June 10.
Lennox appeared to be carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle as the pair talked near the waterside for around three minutes.
She was seen unwrapping the bundle before allegedly leaving the girl under a tree next to a warehouse wall.
The hapless infant had been exposed to the heat for almost nine hours before schoolboys discovered a suspicious cloth bundle on the roadside while collecting fish bait at the canal at around 6 pm.
The youngsters alerted a resident who then called police and medics for help.
Officers found the tiny girl, believed to be just two days old, lying in the grass while wrapped in pink and blue towels with a baby carrier strap nearby.
She was still warm but no longer had a pulse and was completely silent.
They desperately performed CPR for 15 minutes as the baby's skin turned blue. She was rushed to Udon Thani Hospital but was later pronounced dead.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Pichet Pakkethati, deputy superintendent of the city police, ordered investigators to collect evidence before obtaining the CCTV footage identifying the couple as the alleged suspects.
Investigators searched hotels, resorts, and hostels nearby, but found no record of tourists checking in with an infant.
As the case was reported on national television, tip-offs soon came that the couple had previously been seen in neighbouring Nong Khai carrying a baby girl. They were allegedly seen at a cafe 'performing a strange ritual' before travelling to Udon Thani.
Investigators also confirmed the pair had not left Thailand through official border checkpoints despite fears they might have fled to Laos.
A breakthrough came when hotel staff in Udon Thani alerted police on June 11, after recognising two recently checked-in tourists as the suspects in local news reports.
Housekeepers also complained that they were playing 'loud tribal music' throughout the night.
Video shows cops storming the couple's room as Lennox broke down in tears.
She said: 'What are you doing? You guys are monsters. We are workers of Buddha. We come in peace. We are not resisting. And what you guys are accusing us of... Have mercy on your souls. We are Buddhists.'
They were taken to the local station and questioned on suspicion of 'premeditated murder and abandoning a child under nine years of age in order to desert the child'. Both denied the charges.
During interrogations, the couple sang and chanted together while refusing to answer questions.
Officials said their visas had expired in March.
Police Sub-Lieutenant Songrit Chaisritha of Udon Thani Immigration said: ‘Upon verification, it was found that they entered Thailand through Suvarnabhumi Airport on a visa exemption on January 1 for tourism purposes.
‘They completed their permitted stay but remained in the country beyond the legal limit. No criminal record was found.
‘The two met in Thailand, and the woman gave birth to the infant herself in Nong Khai. The infant lived for just over a week before being abandoned.
‘Both suspects still denied the charges. Tourist police questioned them in the presence of an interpreter and consular officials.
‘However, the two attempted to deflect and refused to cooperate with officers by chanting incantations in an unknown language.'
The suspects were detained pending further investigation.
They resisted officers while being bundled into a police car to be transferred to Tourist Police custody.
Police Colonel Phatthanaphong Chanphong, superintendent of Mueang Udon Thani Police Station, said: ‘The investigative team has been working in coordination with Immigration and Tourist Police.
‘We continuously reviewed CCTV footage and gathered evidence until we received a tip-off that both suspects were staying at a hotel in Udon Thani.
‘Upon inspection, officers located the foreign man and the dark-skinned foreign woman whose appearances matched those seen in the CCTV footage, prompting officers to identify themselves and take the individuals into custody for legal action.
‘We have charged them with committing premeditated murder and abandoning a child under nine years of age in order to desert the child, leaving the child without a caregiver and thereby causing death.
‘Because the infant was only just over a week old and unable to care for herself, abandoning her at that location created a foreseeable risk to her life, which any reasonable person could have anticipated. The child subsequently died.
‘When we discovered the infant, she still had a weak pulse but passed away while being transported to hospital.
‘Even though both suspects deny the charges when confronted with the evidence, they continue to deflect responsibility.
‘We have not yet been able to conduct drug tests because both of them refuse to cooperate.'
