INDIANAPOLIS – The search continues for a Fort Carson soldier wanted on charges of murder and desertion.
Specialist Peter Van Bawi Lian is believed to have boarded a flight to Thailand the day after the body of his wife, 27-year-old Khuang Par, was found stuffed in a suitcase left inside a dumpster in Indianapolis.
A homeless woman was throwing something away when she touched something she thought was a body, and immediately called for help. Gloria Schwugman, who lives in the area, told local media, “He had to be so mad and so out of it to do something so vicious, especially at Christmas time.”
News 5 obtained the probable cause affidavit Thursday.
Police said Par fled to Indianapolis for the safety of family on Dec. 1, 2018, while trying to escape an abusive marriage. She had a protection order against her husband following his arrest for assault and menacing on Nov. 30, 2018, by the Colorado Springs Police Department.
The report said Lian choked Par with one hand and then both hands around her neck.
According to court documents, Lian even admitted to officers his plan to kill her. They had lived together, but Lian was ordered out of their residence and into Fort Carson barracks.
Fort Carson investigators searched Lian’s barracks room after the discovery of his wife’s body. According to the affidavit for his arrest, they found a suitcase and combination lock that match those found with his wife’s.
Fort Carson confirmed Lian was assigned to the post as a Financial Management Technician with the 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade. The 21-year-old enlisted 7 months ago.
According to police, he flew out of Fort Carson on December 22nd to Indianapolis. His wife’s body was found the next day. Flight records show he then boarded a flight from Chicago that connected in San Francisco and Hong Kong, before a final flight to Bangkok, Thailand, on Dec. 24th.
Specialist Lian was due back at Ft. Carson on December 26th, according to the affidavit, though the Mountain Post would not confirm that Thursday.
