Suspect in murder of senior ex-official claims innocence

Police are also investigating seven other individuals in relation to the murder last week, Metropolitan Police caretaker commander Lt-General Sanit Mahathaworn said.

Following a two-hour interrogation of Pattana Kavi, 48, yesterday morning, Sanit said the suspect insisted he had nothing to do with the murder.

Previous reports stated that he had confessed to killing Weerachart Olarnpiriyakul, 66, at a construction site office in Bangkok’s Lat Krabang district out of rage. 

He admitted to being at the site on the day of the murder but is now maintaining his innocence. 

Sanit said Pattana was tasked with supervising the multimillion-dollar construction of a showroom at the site of the crime while Weearachart was tasked with examining the construction. They might have argued, he said.

He said witnesses saw Pattana walking in and out of the construction site office on the day of the murder and police were probing to determine if seven other people were involved in the crime. 

Police brought Pattana to the site to question him on what he was doing at the time of murder, before bringing him to Min Buri Court to apply for the first detention period yesterday.

Police objected to him being released on bail on the grounds that this was a serious crime, he was a flight risk and he could tamper with evidence while on bail.

Pattana, who had been wanted under a Min Buri Court-issued arrest warrant for Weerachart’s murder, was arrested at Chiang Mai International Airport and was brought back to Bangkok on Friday for Jorakae Noi police to interrogate him.

The court approved Pattana’s first detention period yesterday until June 29. 

One of his relatives then applied for his bail release with cash and a civil service position and the court granted him bail with a Bt2-million deposit and ordered him not to leave the country.