Police doctor, son get death sentence over concealed slaying
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PHETCHABURI Court yesterday sentenced to death a police doctor and his adult son for killing a Myanmar worker and burying his body at the doctor's ranch five years ago.
Another son of Colonel Dr Suphat Laohawatthana has been sentenced to a prison term of 25 years and three months, as he was a minor at the time of the crimes.
The judges issued an arrest warrant for Suphat, who fled after being released on bail. He was last seen in Cambodia.
Reading out the details of the verdict, the judges said Suphat shot and killed the worker out of anger over his having an affair with his third wife. The doctor’s sons Ek, who received the death penalty, and Akkhara witnessed the murder.
Convicted for conspiring
Suphat and his sons were convicted of conspiring to commit a premeditated murder and jointly trying to conceal their crime by hiding the body.
The court last year sentenced in absentia Suphat and Wilsa Jantharabanchorn to eight years and 33 months in jail for human trafficking and ordered them jointly to pay Bt1 million to three Myanmar workers who won civil lawsuits against them. Suphat and Wilsa were released on a bail guarantee of Bt750,000.
Suphat enslaved a number of Myanmar workers and forced them to work without pay for years.
He was also convicted of attempted murder yesterday for trying to kill another Myanmar worker. He shot the worker in the head and mouth, but the worker escaped and later filed a complaint with police together with another Myanmar worker who escaped Suphat’s ranch.
The court in late 2013 sentenced Suphat to a five-year jail term and Wilsa to three years and four months for theft, after police found a stolen pickup truck at Suphat’s home in Nonthaburi.
The vehicle belonged to a man and his wife who went missing three years prior. Police began searching for them after their parents filed a complaint.
Phetchaburi Court postponed two sessions to read out the verdicts in this matter after Suphat said he was not able to attend them.
The judges seized the Bt300,000 he deposited as a guarantee in his theft trial and a Bt3-million guarantee for his murder trial.
Police have not located the owners of the pickup, Samart Numjui and Orara Kersab, and have not been able to identify two skeletons dug up at Suphat’s ranch.
