What began as a missing person's case spiralled into a web of intrigue after a Thai couple were arrested for the savage murder of a 79-year-old Japanese man.
Murky case: Police and military personnel find a bag believed to hold the body parts of Yoshinori Shimato in a Samut Prakan canal.
Yoshinori Shimato, a Japanese teacher and long-time Thailand resident, was last seen alive on Sept 21 before his son Tetsuo reported him missing, suspecting foul play.
When police searched Yoshinori's apartment in Din Daeng district on Oct 14, they found his female companion, 47-year-old Pornchanok Chaiyapa, packing her bags.
The officers had reason for suspicion: the woman was wearing a wig in an apparent attempt at disguise, and was found in possession of Yoshinori's ATM cards.
Police charged Ms Pornchanok with theft after discovering she had withdrawn 700,000 baht from Yoshinori's bank account.
But there was still no sign of Yoshinori, and no evidence linking Ms Pornchanok to his disappearance.
Ms Pornchanok was given bail after a 100,000-baht surety bond was posted by Somchai Kaewbangyang, 47, later revealed to be the woman's long-term husband.
The couple then tried to flee. They did not get far: on Oct 20, police arrested the couple at a petrol station in Ang Thong province.
According to investigators, Yoshinori and Ms Pornchanok were seen travelling together in Chon Buri's Bang Saen district on Sept 18-19 before heading back to stay at Yoshinori's apartment.
On Sept 21, Yoshinori went to school to teach, but fell ill that afternoon and was sent to a hospital in Bang Na. When Ms Pornchanok arrived, she asked that Yoshinori be moved to a cheaper facility.
Yoshinori was discharged, but would never make it to another hospital. Instead, Ms Pornchanok took him to her home in the Orchid Villa housing estate in Samut Prakan's Bang Sao Thong district.
There, police say, Ms Pornchanok phoned Mr Somchai, who would use a pillow to suffocate Yoshinori before dismembering his body.
Mr Somchai then allegedly stuffed the remains inside four sacks, which he dumped into Khlong Nang Thim in Samut Prakan's Bang Bo district. Police recovered the sacks from the canal on Oct 22.
The couple were charged with murder, concealing and destroying a body, unlawful detention, theft, electronic card fraud and destruction of evidence.
But the saga was not yet over. A look back through Ms Pornchanok's past suggested an ominous pattern, and Mr Somchai also confessed to killing a prior husband, Japanese businessman Kasitosi Tanaka, in 2003.
Tanaka's death was ruled an accident, with the cause of death listed as a heart attack. But Mr Somchai confessed to pushing Tanaka down a staircase before suffocating him.