16-year-old cart racer allegedly stabbed Airbnb host to death hours after checking in

A teenage international kart racer stabbed his Airbnb host to death within hours of renting the room from her when he was just 16, according to UK prosecutors.

Enzo Bettiamo, now 18, allegedly used a large silver knife to murder 27-year-old Kamonnan Thiamphanit at her home in London before fleeing to Dubai, the Times of London reported.

Thiamphanit, also known as Angela, was found in April 2024 with “multiple stab wounds all over her body [and] a large silver knife … protruding from the side of her neck,” the jury in London was told Tuesday.

Bettiamo, an international kart racer and dual citizen of Brazil and Italy, was 16 when he used Airbnb to book a room in Thiamphanit’s home near Marble Arch in central London for a month.

The teenager checked in after arriving in the UK from Los Angeles on April 5, 2024.

Thiamphanit had been playing board games with friends when she left in the early hours of April 6, saying there was an emergency at her home, the jury was told.

She was last seen alive at 4:24 a.m. after an Uber dropped her off, prosecutor Nadeem Holland said,

Bettiamo took a taxi to London Heathrow Airport just 13 hours later and bought a ticket to Dubai, the jury was told.

Thiamphanit was reported missing by her friends two days later, and police discovered the body in her home.

She had died from multiple sharp force injuries, a post-mortem found.

Cops were contacted twice by Thiamphanit’s friends the day before her body was discovered, leading her boyfriend, Chris Zeng, and her mother, Fiona Fu, to criticize police handling of her disappearance.

London’s Metropolitan Police referred itself to the independent police watchdog after Thiamphanit’s disappearance was initially graded as a lower-level missing person inquiry, the Times of London reported.

“I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Angela’s family and friends for their patience and unwavering support to the investigation, throughout what has been an incredibly difficult and distressing time for them,” lead investigator Detective Chief Inspector Alison Foxwell said in a statement.

Bettiamo was extradited from the United Arab Emirates on April 24 and arrested and charged with murder on arrival.

Appearing in the court via video link, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, and address during Tuesday’s brief hearing.

He was remanded in custody by Judge Simon Mayo, who set a provisional trial date for Feb. 1, 2027.

Bettiamo is next due in court on July 14 for a plea hearing.