BANGKOK – Police have arrested a 19-year-old man accused of killing and burning the body of his 18-year-old friend in central Thailand’s Kamphaeng Phet Province. He claimed the victim planned to use his motorbike to deliver drugs, which led to a fight.
He said the victim tried to stab him with a cutter knife, but he grabbed it and struck by mistake, cutting the victim’s neck and causing his death, then carried the body into a small knockdown house, poured petrol over it, and set it on fire to cover up the crime.
The case began when officers found a burnt body inside a raised knockdown house made of Shera wooden boards, standing by a canal in a paddy field at the back of the village in Lan Dok Mai sub-district, Mueang Kamphaeng Phet district, Kamphaeng Phet province.
Police from Mueang Kamphaeng Phet station went to inspect the scene straight away.
Later, Pol Col Anek Chansorn, deputy commander of Kamphaeng Phet Provincial Police, together with Pol Lt Col Pairat Srijaiwong, deputy investigation inspector, and an investigation team from Mueang Kamphaeng Phet station, detained Mr Bank, 19, at his home in Nong Pling sub-district, Mueang Kamphaeng Phet.
At first, during questioning, Mr Bank denied any role in the killing. He admitted he knew the victim and that they were friends, but said he had nothing to do with the death and claimed he knew nothing about what had happened.
When police officers presented evidence and asked him to swear before sacred objects that he was telling the truth, warning him he would face the consequences if he lied, he changed his story and confessed.
He told police that on the day of the incident, he rode his own motorbike to pick up Mr Not from his house so they could go to his place, as they usually did. While they were on the road, Mr Not asked to ride the bike instead, saying that Bank rode shakily, so he agreed and let him take over.
According to the suspect, instead of heading to Bank’s house, Mr Not turned off into the area that later became the crime scene. He said he asked why they were going that way, and Mr Not replied that he was going to deliver illegal drugs, claiming he got angry because he disliked drugs and had never been involved with them.
They then started arguing. Mr Not allegedly let the bike fall, which caused it to land on Bank. He said he pushed himself away from the bike, then the argument turned into a fistfight. Since Mr Not was smaller, he could not match Bank’s strength and then pulled out a cutter knife, aiming to stab him.
He told police he grabbed for the cutter, wrestled it from Not’s hand, and swung it, but missed his aim and cut Mr Not’s neck.
He said he tried to help and wanted to take his friend to the hospital, but Mr Not pushed him away and pressed a hand on his neck wound before dying in front of him. In panic, He lifted the body and pushed it through the window of the nearby knocked-down house, then ran away.
After fleeing, he said he rode his motorbike to buy petrol for 50 baht in a plastic container, then returned to the scene. He poured the petrol over Mr Not’s body from head to toe and set it on fire inside the hut.
He then took the cutter and the petrol container away from the scene. Once home, he threw away the clothes he had worn during the crime behind his house and burned them to destroy any remaining evidence.
