Voice clips show police knew they had ‘wrong guy’

Aranyaprathet officers heard discussing what to do after finding CCTV video of real culprits

Six voice clips have been released that reveal how police in Aranyaprathet knew they had arrested the wrong suspect for the murder of a 47-year-old woman, Buanhan Tansu.

Panya Khongsaenkham was arrested shortly after his wife’s body was found on Jan 12 in the border town in Sa Kaeo province. Police subsequently found video from a security camera that showed she had been beaten and abducted by five youths.

The attackers — two of them the sons of police officers — were later identified as being aged 13 to 16.

It has since emerged that a group of men covered Mr Panya’s head with a black bag, chained and assaulted him and forced him to confess to killing his wife.

The audio of the Aranyaprathet officers’ conversations, said to have been recorded on Jan 13, reveals them acknowledging they have the wrong suspect.

Pol Lt Col Nititorn Pimkhum, the inspector in charge of the case, is heard in each clip speaking about the suspect.

In the first recording, which is 54 seconds long, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut Singwong, who was assigned to examine the closed-circuit TV video, is heard notifying Pol Lt Col Nititorn that it showed the perpetrator was not Mr Panya.

He said five teenagers were clearly seen chasing, beating and stomping on the victim. “I am watching the footage right now,” Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut says.

In the second voice recording, approximately a minute long, Pol Lt Col Nititorn is heard speaking in panicked tone of voice to Pol Maj Nitirat Srisawat, who was bringing Mr Panya to the provincial court for detention. The plan “has gone wrong” and the detention warrant needs to be put on hold, says the head investigator. In response, Pol Maj Nitirat says the warrant has already been submitted.

In the third clip, a conversation between Pol Lt Col Nititorn and Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut is heard, where they further discuss what they found on the video — including timelines of the incident.

Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut reaffirmed that the five teenagers were captured on municipal and 7-Eleven security cameras wandering around the area on motorcycles looking for the victim. When they saw her at around 1.30am, they got off their bikes and started chasing her on foot.

In the fourth clip, Pol Lt Col Nititorn is heard telling Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut to send the CCTV footage to the investigation room. The fifth recording is a discussion reconfirming the timeline in the footage.

In the last recording, Pol Maj Nitirat is heard telling Pol Lt Col Nititorn that the court had approved the warrant for Mr Panya’s detention at 11am. “Damn it,” replies Pol Lt Col Nititorn, while Pol Maj Nitirat says, “Now we’re in trouble.”

Some people have asked if the clips were leaked to show the police had just got their hands on the CCTV footage and were trying to rectify the mistake they had made in arresting the deceased’s husband.

But the police continued to detain Mr Panya for two more days until Jan 15 — despite knowing the truth.