Confession gets murder convict life in prison instead of death
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The Appeal Court yesterday reduced the death sentence for Somkid Pumpoung, who allegedly murdered five sex workers, to life imprisonment for the murder of one victim in Lampang on grounds that his confession was useful to the case.
The Appeal Court’s verdict, issued yesterday at 10am, was for the murder of masseuse Phongpan Sabchai on the night of September 19, 2005. Somkid, 46, was accused of strangling her to death in a Wiang Lakhon hotel room in Lampang’s Muang district before stealing her jewellery and a Bt5,000 cell-phone. Somkid reportedly confessed to police but retracted his confession during trial, claiming that he had been framed.
The lower court gave Somkid the death sentence, but he appealed.
The Appeals Court ruled that circumstantial evidence against Somkid was strong enough to prove that he had committed the murder, while his confession to police that he had strangled the victim because her asking him for money had angered him, provided additional details.
Besides, forensic evidence showed Somkid’s fingerprints on a can of soft drink and a bill, so the convict’s claim of being elsewhere at the time of the murder was weightless, the court said. Since Somkid’s confession was useful, the Appeals Court reduced the lower court’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
