Man, 72, allegedly kills wife for refusing to share money from sale of a cow
A 72-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly stabbing his wife to death in Kalasin because she refused to share the proceeds of selling a cow with him.
Sawat Ratchomphu was arrested while he was still holding the knife used in the alleged killing and his clothes were stained with blood, said Pol Col Putthinan Sahaphan, commander of the Nong Kung Si police station.
His wife, Samniang Saiyawan, 66, was killed on a bamboo bed at a house in Moo 9 village in Tambon Nong Suang of Nong Kung Si district. She had been stabbed twice.
Her body was found with a Bt100 note inside her mouth.
Sawat was arrested nearby, in the house of one of his children.
The couple lived apart as Sawat often beat his wife when he got drunk, police said.
Sawat was still drunk when he was arrested, police said, and he told them that he was angry that his wife refused to share money from the sale of a cow and put the money in her bank account.
He also blamed her for their children's decision to take his ATM card away to try to stop him from drinking.
He said he put the Bt100 note in his wife's mouth because he believed it was a ritual to prevent her from taking reprisals against him in the next life.