SONGKHLA — An elderly primary-school director who was found slain at her home last week was killed by her lover, a man obsessed with black magic, in a fit of jealousy, police said.
Photo by Vichayant Boonchote
Police identified the killer as Suwat Nin-o-pa, 52. He was arrested at his home in Songkhla’s Muang district on Sunday and presented by police at a news conference at Hat Yai police station on Monday.
Duangkae Khunthongpetch, 52, director of Wiriya Thian Witthaya School, was found dead, her head bashed in, and covered with a blanket on the floor beside her bed at her home in Hat Yai district late Thursday morning.
Mr Suwat allegedly admitted that jealousy had led him to kill Duangkae. He was her boyfriend when they were in their 20s, and they renewed their relationship two years ago after the woman separated from her husband.
He claimed his lover had recently been talking with another man via social media. He said he was fired by jealousy and unable to restrain himself when he killed her.
Mr Suwat told police he hit Duangkae on the head with an iron pipe and then strangled her with a coat hanger about 2am while they were sharing a bed.
After her death he had thought about chopping off her head, but then decided not to. So he stole her notebook computer, purse and ATM cards, and then fled in her car.
Police said the suspect was a fortune teller and an expert in amulets who was “obsessed with superstition and black magic”.
They found Mr Suwat had hidden a Buddhist statue under his slain lover’s bed, believing it would allow him to "control the soul of the deceased”.