A Longmont man arrested in 2019 in Boulder County on an attempted murder charge has now been accused of killing his pregnant wife in Thailand.
Jason Matthew Balzer, 32, was arrested Thursday in the northern city of Chiang Mai and reportedly confessed to killing his 32-year-old wife, Pitchaporn Kidchob, officials told the Associated Press.
According to police, Balzer stabbed Pitchaporn with a knife when she tried to kick him out of the home, and then put her body in a rubbish bin that he sealed and buried in the woods about 3 miles from their home.
The murder charge carries a maximum penalty of death.
Balzer previously was arrested in April 2019 in Longmont after police say a gun went off while he was threatening a woman with it. The woman told police at the time she was sleeping in her bedroom when Balzer came in and wanted to have sex. The woman said she was tired, and Balzer became angry and took her phone.
She said Balzer then grabbed her arms and squeezed them and then hit her in the face and slammed her head into the bed’s headboard five times, according to the affidavit.
She told police Balzer then grabbed a revolver out of a desk drawer in the room and pointed it at her head saying, “I will kill you.” The woman was able to push the gun to the side, at which point it went off next to her head. She was able to get the gun away from Balzer and threw it under the bed.
But the named victim in the case ultimately refused to testify, and as a result prosecutors said they had to drop most of the charges, including the attempted murder count. Balzar did plead guilty to one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Officials have told the Camera it at least appears the victim in both cases was the same woman.
The Boulder District Attorney’s Office could not confirm if the victim in Thailand was the same victim named in the Boulder County case, and the name is redacted from the arrest affidavit.
But court documents show the Boulder County case was a domestic violence incident, and officials said that the named victim in that case went to Thailand when she refused to testify.
“This murder highlights the danger of domestic violence as well as the potential for lethality that can often exist for victims,” the Boulder District Attorney’s Office said. “Our hearts go out to the victim’s loved ones; it is a very tragic case. We hope that he will be held fully responsible for the murder.”
Balzer was also arrested in 2020 in Weld County after being pulled over in a vehicle with 72 weapons, and he was charged with two weapons counts, violation of a protection order and a drug offense.
Boulder District Attorney Shannon Carbone said prosecutors moved to have Balzer’s probation in the Boulder County case revoked as a result of the Weld County case.
Both the Weld County case and the probation revocation were pending when it appears Balzer moved to Thailand.