Police Affairs panel urges review of info on Akeyuth murder

Democrat Party MP for Trang and the committee chairman, Somchai Lhosathapornpipat, said the Dusit Poll result indicated that the Thai public wanted to know if Akeyuth’s death harboured hidden motives. He said there were many suspicious occurrences in the case – such as the disappearance of the server for the close security camera system, which he said police had removed to avoid revealing the real culprits. 

Somchai added that the fourth suspect Suthipong “Berm” Pimpisal’s testimony also highlighted many contradictions. He said he agreed with Ministry of Justice inspector-general Porntip Rojanasunan’s previous comment that there could be a cover-up. He suspected the case could be related to politics, as Akeyuth was a vocal critic of the government and Thaksin regime.

Metropolitan Police yesterday brought Berm to register for the court’s first 12-day detention period. Berm faces five charges: armed robbery leading to another’s death; premeditated murder; forcing another person to do something against their will (in this case, forcing Akeyuth to hand over the Bt5 million); illegal detention of another person leading to his death; and disposing of a body to conceal the crime. 

Berm has reportedly confessed to all charges except the murder. He was detained pending a police probe and wouldn’t be granted bail due to his flight risk. While being escorted to Bangkok Remand Prison, Berm told his parents that he was all right and they should take care of themselves.

Akeyuth’s lawyer Suwat Apaipak, who doubts that the motive was theft, attended Berm’s interrogation yesterday and heard the 27-year-old Phattalung man saying that Akeyuth’s driver, Santiparb Pengduang, 25, strangled the victim to death and then strangled the lifeless body with shoelace. Santiparb earlier implicated Suthipong of strangling Akeyuth. Suwat said he doubted that the murder was merely theft-related as the culprits had thrown Akeyuth’s belongings into the Nakhon Si Thammarat River, suggesting they were trying to conceal evidence of the crime. 

Suwat also said he believed more people had masterminded the killing – not just the four men captured. He added that the investigation outcome was in the hands of the police and the victim’s grief-stricken relatives who wanted a speedy conclusion to the case.

Porntip, who was also invited to observe Berm’s interrogation, affirmed that she wouldn’t provide information to investigators on the murder case, because she had been transferred from the Forensic Science Institute and it wouldn’t be appropriate.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Remand Prison officials placed Santiparb and the two other suspects – Thiwakorn Kuathong and Chawalit Woonchum – under close watch for fear they might try to commit suicide during detention.