Suspect confessed to killing entertainment tycoon: source

A police source claimed yesterday that Panupong Rassana, 32, confessed that he was hired to kill Somyot, 62, by a man to whom the late tycoon owed “a lot of money”. 

Panupong reportedly said that he was initially hired to collect the debt, but then the man changed his mind and ordered Somyot’s killing instead. 

Panupong reportedly told police that he rented a room in Bangkok’s Ram-Indra area two days before the shooting, and after someone delivered a gun to him on the day itself, he took a taxi to the Hua Mark area, where he was met by the getaway motorcyclist. They then waited for Somyot outside a restaurant in Suan Luang district, before shooting him dead and dropping the gun in the Chao Phraya River, he said. 

Panupong was arrested in his home in Soi Charansanitwong 35 in Taling Chan district on Tuesday.

Following Somyot’s fatal shooting at the restaurant parking lot, police investigators mulled over several possible motives, including a conflict over a Bt4-million gambling debt and his work in clearing lawsuits for defendants. Police also issued warrants for the arrest of a male shooter and a male getaway motorcyclist, based on sketches. 

The source said enhanced CCTV camera footage and the escape route later led police to Panupong, whose appearance matched the witnesses’ description of the gunman. 

Police have interrogated him to determine the identity of the mastermind and the motive, the source said. The information given to police by Panupong could lead to his accomplices, including the getaway motorcyclist and the person who hired them, the source said.