A 27-year-old woman was killed by her husband, whom she had taken a protective order out against, after he flew from Colorado to Indianapolis to kill her, authorities said.
Khuang Par was found dead in a suitcase left in a dumpster on Dec. 23, 2018. Prosecutors in Marion County, Indiana, filed murder charges Wednesday against 21-year-old Peter Van Bawi Lian, who allegedly killed Par after she returned to Indianapolis to be with family a month ago.
In November, Lian was arrested for allegedly choking Par and yelling in his native language, Burmese, that he would kill her. A protective order was issued on Dec. 3, according to the prosecutor's probable cause affidavit.
On Dec. 22, Lian was on active duty with the US Army when he reportedly flew from Fort Carson in Colorado Springs to Indianapolis, according to investigators. Par's body was found on the morning of Dec. 23, when a homeless woman spotted a suitcase in a dumpster, and after reaching inside, felt what she believed was a body.
An autopsy found that Par had trauma on both sides of her neck and hemorrhage in her eyes, prosecutors said.
According to the charging documents citing flight records, on Dec. 23, Lian allegedly boarded a United Airlines flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Hong Kong, via San Francisco. The next day he left Hong Kong for Thailand.
Lian, who military officials said had served for seven months, most recently as a financial management technician, had been due back on the base in Colorado the day after Christmas, but never showed up. He has been declared AWOL and is now also wanted for military desertion.
"Our heartfelt sympathy and prayers go out to the victim's family and friends during this difficult time," Col. James G. Kent, commander, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, said in a statement. "Fort Carson will continue to cooperate with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in this ongoing investigation."
