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Canadian dies in Laos, family doesn't believe local police suicide claim

A Canadian turns up dead in an airport in Laos with defensive stab wounds and several knives left lying nearby, after leaving several worrying messages with family back home. Laotian officials classify it a suicide, but family suspects foul play.
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Canadian Nara Pech died in Laos in January, 2015. Local police classified it a suicide but his family suspect foul play. ((Courtesy: Sarena Armsworthy)
As It Happens5:49Canadian turns up dead in Laos, local police call it suicide but family not buying it

Sarena Armsworthy just wants some answers. And the ones she has received so far just don't add up for her. 

Armsworthy's brother, Nara Pech, turned up dead in January in an airport in Laos from what local officials say are self-inflicted stab wounds. The Canadian citizen and York University graduate was vacationing in southeast Asia but decided to cut his trip short. He was getting ready to board a plane back to Canada to visit his fiancee. 

Laotian investigators told the family he took his own life by stabbing himself three times. 

But Armsworthy said investigators found four knives near her brother's body. Some of his injuries appear to be defensive wounds. And he left several troubling voicemail messages with family just before he died. 

"In those messages, he indicates that people are trying to hurt him, that he wanted us to contact the embassy," Armsworthy told As It Happens' guest host Tom Harrington. "He felt that his life was in danger."

Armsworthy said her brother had no history of mental illness, depression or suicidal thoughts. She said she doesn't believe he was using drugs. She had no idea why anyone would want to hurt him, although he did say in one message that someone was claiming he said something derogatory about the Cambodian prime minister. 

"But that doesn't make sense either. Cambodia is a different country than Laos [where he died]," she said. 

She said the family has been working with consular officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. 

"They have been almost no help to me," she said, other than helping her get the post mortem report for her brother's autopsy. Armsworthy said she would like the Canadian government to take a more active role in trying to get answers about the investigation. 

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs said consular officials are providing assistance to the family, and acting as a liaison with local authorities in Laos. They have also asked for a timely and transparent investigation. Citing privacy concerns, she declined to release further details about the case.

The family has launched an online petition calling on the Canadian government to get more involved in the case, as well as a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for a memorial service. 

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