Police are investigating the death of ex-deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn's former wife who was killed in a car crash 25 years ago. Pol Lt Col Banyin stands accused of murdering construction tycoon Chuwong Sae Tang in a possibly staged car crash last year.
A Crime Suppression Division (CSD) source said Pol Col Jirapob Puridet, chief of CSD subdivision 1, has assigned investigators to probe the death of , Pol Lt Col Banyin's former wife, who died in a car crash in Phayuha Khiri district, Nakhon Sawan, on March 23, 1991.
Pol Lt Col Banyin was a deputy inspector attached to a police station's traffic unit at that time.
The crash happened when Pol Lt Col Banyin and his wife, who was driving the car, were travelling back from dinner at a restaurant in Phayuha Khiri.
They were heading to Nakhon Sawan when a lorry cut in front of them, prompting the vehicle to veer to the side of the road and hit a tree.
Rosarin was badly hurt and rushed to Phayuha Khiri Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Investigators interviewed people close to Rosarin who said they doubted she had died because of the accident, the source said, adding those associated with Pol Lt Col Banyin's former wife supplied useful accounts. Officers are in the process of compiling information, the source noted.
Pol Lt Col Banyin has been charged with the premeditated murder of Chuwong.
The 50-year-old construction tycoon was found dead in the front passenger seat of Pol Lt Col Banyin's vehicle after it hit a tree in Prawet district, Bangkok, on June 26 last year. Pol Lt Col Banyin was the driver of the vehicle and escaped with minor injuries.
Pol Lt Col Banyin and three women who knew him were earlier charged with stealing shares worth 260 million baht from Chuwong a short time before he was found dead.
