It has been revealed that 34-year-old Bandhna Kaur Bajaj travelled to Phuket secretly in September to assist investigating Thai police in a review and reenactment of the crime. Based on that process, the Norwegian now faces a charge of murder if he is captured. Bullman was last seen at the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi and there are now reports that his partner in Oslo has sold up and authorities believe him to be somewhere in either Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam.
The hunt is still on for 53-year-old former soldier and bodybuilder Roger Bullman, the Norwegian man who throttled a UK IT engineer in his hotel bedroom in the early hours of August 21st last and subsequently skipped bail in Phuket on September 2nd. There are now reports that his partner in Oslo has quietly sold the couple’s property on the outskirts of the Norwegian capital city and disappeared without a word to her neighbours.
It is being reported that Thai police in Phuket have now upgraded their charges against the Norwegian man who killed a fellow hotel guest at the 5 star Grand Centara Hotel in the Karon area of the city on August 21st last. The 53-year-old Norwegian Roger Bullmam later absconded while on bail on September 2nd just over ten days after the killing.
Jumped bail ten days after the killing
Somehow Bullman managed, at the outset, to convince police in Phuket that the matter was a room invasion by the UK engineer.
Even initial press reports suggested that the incident was one of self-defence alleging the victim, 34-year-old IT consultant Amital Bajaj, had entered the room with a knife because of the noise the Norwegian man was making while singing opera.
Subsequently, it emerged that the exact opposite was the case.
Reenactment of the events of August 21st with the help of the victim’s wife who flew in from Singapore
It is now being revealed that following a reconstruction of the terrible events which occurred at approximately 3.30 am in the early hours of August 21st that police now believe that Mr Bullman committed murder when he was the one who broke into an adjoining a hotel room containing the Indian man, his 34-year-old wife and infant son.
Rolling and violent struggle between the two men
Mr Bajaj immediately urged his wife to escape the melee with the couple’s son but was subsequently killed in a rolling fight in which the two men fought each other across both rooms and outside in corridors. It was subsequent injuries from this struggle, including a knife wound to his shoulder, that Bullman used to suggest to the police that the matter was one of self-defence.
Found still throttling his victim
The Norwegian was found by a Karon police officer in the early hours of August 21st still throttling the UK man who lived in Singapore but stood down when ordered and began crying leaving the 34-year-old Sikh IT engineer straining to breathe after being held for an extended in a professional chokehold.
The UK man, a father and husband, died shortly later in hospital.
Wife returned to Phuket secretly in September
Now police in Phuket have revealed that Ms Bandhna Kaur Bajaj returned to Phuket in September secretly to assist Thai police in a meticulous reconstruction of the crime.
Based on this exercise, police in Thailand have now upgraded the charge against the man to murder.
Interpol Red alert notice to arrest Bullman
At the end of September, a red alert Interpol notice was released in connection with Bullman.
This followed a reported visit on September 13th last to the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi by the killer enquiring about the possibility of obtaining a replacement Norwegian passport.
Bullman’s partner quietly sells property in Oslo
There also now reports from Norway that Bullman’s partner with whom he has a young daughter, has sold the couple’s flat on the outskirts of Oslo quietly.
Elwira Olsen is reported to have disappeared without telling neighbours from the quiet wooded neighbourhood.
Local residents in Osla speak of a big, caring man
Local residents in the area describe Bullman as a big man who was seen regularly walking in the woods near his home and caring for his daughter.
The burly bodybuilder, a former Norwegian army soldier, worked at a medical facility for psychiatric patients where he reportedly had a good record.
‘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,’ one neighbour told the press after news of the tragedy in Phuket emerged.
Reports of both men using missiles to batter an adjoining room partition mentioned in Interpol notice
There is also a reference in the Interpol Red Alert notice issued for Bullman that the attack on the adjacent hotel room in which Mr Bajaj’s wife recalls the Norwegian storming into the room naked and making animal noises, occurred after both Mr Bajaj and Mr Bullman had fired objects at each other through a slim wooden partition dividing the two rooms.
The report suggested that intensity of this missile exchange, mostly involving the use of bottles, badly damaged the partition before Bullman eventually smashed through leading to the subsequent violence and ultimately, fatal rampage.
Bullman described himself in a mellow mood that morning singing opera in his balcony
Bullman himself in an interview with the media in Phuket before he went on the run, said that on that morning he had initially been in high spirits singing opera on his balcony.
However, Ms Bajaj in her new evidence to police in September suggested that she and her husband heard screams from a woman and objects being thrown earlier that night. Ms Bajaj said that they had both prayed for the woman.
Victim’s wife frustrated that Bullman was given bail
Ms Bajij in September was reported to be frustrated with Thai authorities for releasing Bullman on bail.
There were even reports of the family reaching out to Vietnamese and Norwegian embassy officials to achieve the man’s swift arrest.
Determined to see him prosecuted for murder
A family source told the British newspaper the Daily Mail that Ms Bajaj is now determined to see the truth of the matter exposed and have Mr Bulman prosecuted for the murder of her husband.
‘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,’ the source said. ‘Now she has to wait and hope. She wants the public in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to keep an eye out for Bullman.’
Warning to the public in Asia that Bullman will have altered his appearance – distinctive tatoos
The family are obviously well aware that Mr Bullman is nothing if not resourceful and point out that he will have taken steps to alter his appearance and personal style.
However, they are asking the public to be on the lookout for his distinctive tattoos.
It is understood that authorities now believe that Bullman is still in South East Asia probably somewhere in either Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam.
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Further reading:
Fugitive Bullman still on the run – Phuket police request additional manpower to arrest him
Norwegian killer Bullman hunted by police in Phuket, failed to turn up in court and disappeared
Norwegian killer accepts he’s going to Thai prison after violent killing of UK man at Phuket hotel
UK man’s wife says her husband died protecting his family in Phuket: ‘He will always be our hero’
