The body of a female vagrant was found under the Lat Phrao intersection flyover on Sunday and police are investigating if her death is linked to the killing of three homeless people in Pathum Thani earlier this week.
The woman, whose name is not known, was aged between 40 and 50. She was found lying face down, half-naked, with her hands tied by twine, near a U-turn under the bridge in Chatuchak area.
A bystander noticed her and alerted police at about 1pm. An initial examination indicated she had been dead for three or four days.
Pol Lt Gen Chaliang Inthip, deputy chief of Phahon Yothin station, said the victims’ head appeared to have been hit by a hard object and there were multiple knife wounds to her head and abdomen. A nine-inch-long kitchen knife stained with blood was found near her body while two blood-stained rocks were found above her head.
Witnesses said the woman was mentally ill. She had lived under the flyover for several months and survived by scavenging.
The victim’s lower body was naked and police were checking if sexual abuse was involved.
Pol Lt Gen Chaliang said there were similar circumstances to the slaying of three homeless people -- two men and a woman -- in Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi district between Tuesday and Thursday in which a Myanmar man identified only as Bung was arrested as a suspect.
On Friday evening, Bang Sue police found Mr Bung on Kamphaeng Phet Road near Mor Chit bus terminal before arresting him in Phahon Yothin Soi 18/1.
The fact that Mr Bung was found near the area where the latest slain vagrant was found as well as the time of the victim’s death has raised police suspicions.
Pol Lt Gen Chaliang said investigators would coordinate the investigation with Pratunam Chulalongkorn police who are in charge of the triple murder case in Pathum Thani.