KHON KAEN - Police took a male suspect to the area where the dismembered body of a murdered karaoke bar woman was earlier found buried in Khao Suan Kwang district on Wednesday, for a re-enactment supporting his confession.
Wasin Namprom, 22, was taken to a block of land belonging to another suspect, fugitive Preeyanuch Nonwangchai, 24, in Ban Non Sa-nga of tambon Kham Muang for the re-enactment.
He was arrested at a guesthouse in Vientiane, Laos, on Tuesday and handed over to Khon Kaen police.
Mr Wasin told investigators he saw Ms Preeyanuch kill Warisara Klinjui, 22, in a rented Honda CR-V vehicle he drove on May 23. He helped move the victim's body, which was cut up and placed in plastic bags and two plastic buckets, and to bury it.
About 30 police were deployed to secure the crime scene. About 300 local residents who gathered to watch the 30-minute re-enactment loudly cursed the man.
Pol Lt Col Suparerk Suwannarat, deputy chief of the Khao Suan Kwang police station, quoted Mr Wasin as saying Ms Preeyanuch rented the Honda car from a company in central Khon Kaen and picked up the victim on May 23.
Ms Preeyanuch then killed Warisara in the vehicle and her gang roamed central Khon Kaen buying items to be used to hide the body.
Mr Wasin said the gang took the victim's body to a resort in Ban Hua Thanon area of tambon Phra Lab in Muang district, where Ms Preeyanuch sawed it up - into an upper body, a lower body and a left arm. The body parts were placed in bags and plastic containers which were loaded into the Honda car and taken to her property for burial and concealment, according to Pol Lt Col Suparerk.
Mr Wasin is one of two suspects so far arrested in the case. Police believe the three other suspects, Ms Preeyanuch and two female friends, fled to Tachileik border town in Myanmar through Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai on May 25, two days after the murder. All are Khon Kaen natives and Mr Wasin the only male.
A source said a drug network in a neighbouring country ordered the murder after information provided by Warisara led to police action against a drug network in Khon Kaen run by the suspects, who knew the victim.
Many suspected traffickers were arrested in Khon Kaen last year during the police raids, including the husband of Ms Preeyanuch. The drug ring also arranged for some gang members to flee the country.
The five suspects face charges of premeditated murder, concealing a body and robbery, as they took the victim's iPhone, which they sold, and her ATM card, which was used for cash withdrawals several times after her disappearance.
Below: a large crowd watches the suspect, Wasin Namprom, re-enact the crime in Khao Suan Kwang district on Wednesday. (Photo by Jakkraphan Nathanri)
