A British man, David Stuart Armitage, aged 62, was arrested on Thursday afternoon in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, in connection with the suspected murder of his Thai wife, Lamduan Seekanya, in 2004. Immigration police and the Department of Special Investigation apprehended Armitage at his residence in Muang district, Kanchanaburi, as part of efforts to expedite his repatriation to the UK. Armitage is wanted in Britain for allegedly killing his wife, whose body was found in a stream in the Yorkshire Dales on September 20, 2004. Lamduan, who had been living with Armitage in northern England, was discovered by hikers near Pen-y-ghent, about 65 kilometers northwest of Leeds.

The body, found face-down in the stream, showed signs of physical trauma and was later identified through a cold case review that began in 2016. Advances in forensic science and DNA testing led to a breakthrough in 2019 when Lamduan’s parents in Udon Thani, Thailand, recognized her from a BBC report on the case.

DNA testing confirmed her identity, revealing that she had vanished under suspicious circumstances in 2004. Armitage and Lamduan had met in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he was teaching English before they moved to the UK in 1991. Armitage is currently being held at the Immigration Bureau in Bangkok as authorities prepare for his deportation to the UK.