Police say initial evidence supports murder-suicide but more forensic results awaited
The gun used in the fatal shooting of a popular net idol belonged to the father of her military cadet boyfriend, who was found dead with her, national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas said on Thursday.
The pistol was legally registered, said Pol Gen Damrongsak, who has ordered an investigation into other guns posted on social media by the former cadet to find out their owner.
The bodies of Supitcha “Gigi” Predajaroen and her boyfriend Phumiphat “Ikkyu” Chaiwanichya were found dead, each with a gunshot wound to the head, in a unit on the 14th floor of a luxury condominium near the Asok-Phetchaburi intersection in Ratchathewi district of Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon.
Phumiphat, 21, was the head of his second-year cadet class at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School. He was a son of Gen Somchai Chaiwanichya, a specialist and former assistant commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army who retired last year.
Supitcha, 19, was a graduate of Silpakorn University who performed with the short-lived girl group One Day to the Next and more recently with Kisskazz. Her profile made her a popular online influencer for promotion of cosmetics and other products on her Facebook and Instagram accounts. The latter had 177,000 followers.
Pol Gen Damrongsak said the investigation was still in its early stages but investigators had concluded that only two people were at the crime scene. Police believe the man might have shot the woman and then taken his own life, he said.
However, investigators will await autopsy results and other forensic findings. The incident might have stemmed from the pair’s personal relationship, he said, adding that other issues appeared unlikely.
The initial forensic examination of the bullet direction showed that the man was likely to have been the perpetrator, said Pol Lt Gen Thiti Saengsawang, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau. However, investigators are still awaiting official forensic results. Security camera recordings at the condominium from April 18 and 19 are also being thoroughly examined.
Friends of Supitcha told police the couple had visited Pattaya during the Songkran holiday before returning to the condominium, according to the MPB chief.
Chutikarn Theerarojphong, the mother of Supitcha, said on Thursday that the cadet used to physically assault her daughter, and that his family was aware of the abuse. The couple had broken up earlier but then resumed their relationship.
Ms Chutikarn said she often told her daughter to be more careful as her boyfriend often played with guns and carried them. She was worried that he might assault her daughter again if they had a quarrel as he was hot-tempered, she added.
The woman spoke as she and her family arrived at Ramathibodi Hospital on Thursday to submit documents to take her daughter’s body for funeral rites.