Boyfriend, wife of slain Japanese man face charges as mutilated body found
Play
A WOMAN and her taxi-driver boyfriend are set be charged with killing her elderly Japanese husband, mutilating the body and hiding the body parts, after the boyfriend confessed to cutting up his body, the chief police investigator said yesterday.
Charges of restraining freedom and forced larceny could be additionally pressed against Somchai Kaewbangyang and the slain Japanese man’s Thai wife Phornchanok Chaiyapa, depending on whether more evidence is found, said Pol Maj-General Phongphan Wannaphak, acting commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1.
Deputy national police chief Pol General Ruengsak Jarit-ek said Somchai had told police that he and Phornchanok jointly killed Yoshinori Shimato, on a date not known yet and through methods police did not detail, before Somchai mutilated the body.
Somchai had earlier confessed to cutting up the body of Shimato, but had insisted he had not killed him. Somchai reportedly told police that he decided to mutilate the victim’s body for “fear of criminal prosecution”, using a 36cm knife after Shimato fainted during an argument with Phornchanok when he was present. A police source did not reveal whether Somchai had said Shimato fainted and died instantly, or was just unconscious. The officer said the body was mutilated on the second storey of a house in Orchid Village estate in Bang Bo district of Samut Prakan province. A hammer and a knife believed to have been used in the mutilation were found in a pickup truck.
While results of DNA identification of the body parts are awaited, Ruengsak said the body was likely to be that of Shimato, judging from a denture and initial medical records, similarities in the head and Shimato’s facial features.
Phongphan added later that DNA identification of the victim’s son, Tetsuo Shimato, would also be conducted to determine whether they matched. A re-enactment of both persons’ alleged crimes was anticipated yesterday, while gathering of evidence against them is underway, a police source said.
Shimato’s son arrived yesterday at the Royal Thai Police headquarters to express his thanks for the speedy arrests in the case, and sought cooperation from Thai media not to pursue their coverage after he returned to Japan with his father’s body.
He said he was shocked by the events and was finding it difficult to cope with it emotionally. “Despite the brutal actions [of both Somchai and Phornchanok], I still have good feelings towards Thais and Thailand.
