A 52-year-old man obsessed with black magic was arrested yesterday for allegedly murdering his lover last week.
Suwat Nin-opa was arrested at his home in Songkhla’s Muang district on Sunday, Hat Yai police said yesterday.
Mr Suwat allegedly confessed to having killed Duangkae Khunthongpetch, 51, director of Wiriya Thian Witthaya School during a fit of jealousy last Thursday.
The suspect was also wanted on another arrest warrant issued by the Saraburi Court for allegedly murdering another lover, Kritsana Noisena, 45, police said.
This crime took place in Saraburi’s Kaeng Khoi district but it remains unclear when it took place.
Mr Suwat said he killed Duangkae after finding out she had been communicating with another man on social media.
Police said they found several items linking Suwat to the victim at his house. They included the victim’s mobile phone, notebook, wallet, bank passbooks, ATM cards, clothes, and her car.
Duangkae was found dead in bed at her home in Hat Yai's tambon Kuan Lang with wounds to her head and back.
Mr Suwat allegedly told police he had slept with Ms Duangkae that night. About 2am, he said he woke up and hit her on the head with an iron bar and strangled her with a wire coat hanger before fleeing the scene.
He said he and Duangkae were in a relationship in 1982 but it ended when she married someone else, police said.
They reunited two years ago, after she separated from her husband.
Police said the suspect claimed to be a fortune teller, an expert in amulets and to be obsessed with black magic.
They say they also found a Buddha image hidden under Duangkae’s bed, which police said he put there to allow him to “control the soul of the dead woman”.