The wife of a senior police officer based in Ratchaburi was arrested yesterday on suspicion of being a serial killer.
Her alleged victims were people she accompanied on merit-making trips.
The arrest came after the Royal Thai Police (RTP) ordered a thorough investigation into seven murder cases implicating the suspect.
The suspect, Sararat “Am” Rangsiwutaporn, was nabbed at the Chaeng Watthana Government Complex on a murder charge after a warrant for her arrest was issued by the Criminal Court. She refused to give police a statement. At least two of her alleged victims were female police officers.
The case against Ms Sararat surfaced this week after the family of one of her alleged victims, Siriporn Khanwong, 32, asked the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to file charges against her and requested a fresh autopsy of Siriporn’s body.
National police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas said Siriporn passed out, and later died, as she released fish into a river to make merit during Songkran two weeks ago in Ban Pong district of Ratchaburi. The first autopsy result stated that she died of natural causes.
However, her family queried the result and sought a second autopsy. A preliminary result of the second autopsy by the Police General Hospital’s forensic department revealed Siriporn had cyanide in her bloodstream. The complete autopsy results are expected to be out within a week, said Pol Gen Damrongsak.
Pol Gen Damrongsak said theft is believed to be the killer’s motive. However, the investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the suspect suffered from a mental condition. The suspect appears to have committed the crime alone.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, who leads the investigation, said at least seven people acquainted with Ms Sararat who joined her on merit-making trips died in similar ways over the past two years in Ratchaburi and nearby provinces of Kanchanaburi and Nakhon Pathom.
Many victims carried a lot of cash, reportedly to buy items to donate to temples. The cash belonging to some went missing after they passed out.