THE university lecturer at the centre of the Lady of the Hills murder mystery is to return to the UK in a bid to clear his name, The Sun can reveal.
David Armitage, 62, is being deported from Thailand after immigration officials revoked his residency visa.
David Armitage, 62, is being deported from Thailand[/caption]
David with his family outside their home in Rugby, Warwickshire[/caption]
Lamduan was found dead in the Yorkshire Dales[/caption]
They acted after Interpol issued a Blue Notice against him – an international order to help cops gather vital info about a crime from witnesses and suspects living abroad.
Armitage – whose wife Lamduan was murdered in 2004 – is not being extradited back to the UK and is free to travel to any other country.
But he is set to return home in the hope of finally clearing his name after years of suggestions by Lamduan’s family that he was involved in her death, according to immigration sources in Thailand.
He was persuaded to do so by his Thai girlfriend and his teacher son George, 32.
A source told The Sun: “George is obviously aware of everything that has happened over the last few years and everything that has been said – as is David’s Thai girlfriend.
“They have persuaded him to go back to the UK to clear his name.
“He is free to go anywhere when he leaves Thailand, but in reality he only has one option– back to Britain.
“He had the choice of appealing against the decision to revoke his visa within 48 hours but he did not take it.”
Lamduan’s partially-clothed body was found in the Yorkshire Dales in 2004.
She was dubbed the Lady of the Hills when she was buried in an anonymous grave after police failed to identify her.
A cold case review by North Yorkshire police finally led to her being identified in 2019.
Armitage, who has been living near Kanchanaburi since 2007, denied any involvement in her death when The Sun tracked him down in 2019.
He said there had been a whispering campaign against him in the Thai media but added: “I didn’t kill my wife. Absolutely not.
“I know the inferences are there but I’m just getting on with my life. It’s been a long time.”
He had been living with daughter Charlena but she was tragically killed in a road accident a few years ago.
That left Armitage, who retired from teaching two years ago, as the main carer for her young child.
The British teacher was detained by police in Thailand after his residency visa was revoked[/caption]
At least seven immigration officials arrived at his home last Thursday[/caption]
Lamduan’s heartbroken parents[/caption]
His Thai girlfriend is now looking after his grandchild after he was detained last Thursday.
Lamduan’s parents Buasa and Joomsri have spent the last 20 years trying to find out what happened to their daughter.
Mum Joomsri, 80, wept: “If my daughter’s spirit can hear me, I want to tell her to rest in peace.”
North Yorkshire Police have said they are keen to speak to Armitage if he does return to the UK.
Armitage said he would cooperate with police but when North Yorkshire officers flew to Thailand to speak to him in February 2023 he declined to meet them.
A spokesperson said: “We are aware of the detention in Thailand of David Armitage, the husband of Lamduan Armitage.
“We understand it relates to his visa status and residence in Thailand and is entirely a matter for the Immigration Service of the Royal Thai Police.
“Should Mr Armitage be deported, we understand that he will have a choice as to where he goes, which will include return to the UK.
“Should that occur, we will again make every effort to speak to him about the investigation.”
Lamduan had moved to the UK in 1991 after marrying Armitage, who is from Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria, in Bangkok.
They settled in Portsmouth where Armitage worked as a teacher and Lamduan washed dishes in a Thai restaurant, before moving to Rugby, Warwickshire.
The mother-of-three vanished in the summer of 2004 but Armitage never reported his wife missing and shortly after he moved to Thailand with his two children.
She was dubbed the Lady of the Hills by villagers who buried her in an anonymous grave in Horton in 2007.
Her headstone reads: “The Lady of The Hills. Found 20th Sept 2004. Name Not Known. Rest in Peace.”
Cops initially thought her death was non-suspicious.
Around a decade later North Yorkshire Police’s cold case unit launched a fresh probe and declared her death was murder.
North Yorkshire Police have said they are keen to speak to Armitage if he does return to the UK[/caption]
Lamduan Seekanya with David in Thailand[/caption]
David never reported his wife missing when she vanished in 2004[/caption]
