A young Filipino man was arrested yesterday for allegedly stabbing and killing an elderly woman in Chiang Mai on Wednesday.
Joseph Paul Sumatra, 19, was charged with the murder of Jinda Pongsantia, 73, in her Muang district home.
Police said Mr Sumatra had confessed to killing the woman for money, which he wanted to fund his online gaming habit.
Chiang Mai police chief Montri Sampunyanond said the murder had been inspired by graphic scenes of violence in online video games.
Mr Sumatra was arrested at his home nearby, just 200 metres from the crime scene.
Police said the suspect had often visited the woman’s house before the murder, and had aroused suspicion when he suddenly halted the visits and locked himself inside his own home.
Mr Sumatra was escorted to the police station yesterday, where he allegedly made the confession, witnessed by his parents and an official from the Philippines embassy.
Chiang Mai police were alerted to the case when called to a housing estate in tambon Pa Daet early on Wednesday. When they arrived, officers found Jinda dead with severe knife wounds to the throat.
A 21cm bloodstained kitchen knife and an aluminium bar were found next to her body. The house had been ransacked.
A bloodstained shirt, a pair of pants, shoes, a glove and loose change was also found scattered on the floor.
Investigators said Mr Sumatra had taken the knife with him to the woman’s house. He then used a piece of cloth to cover a dog kennel outside to stop the animal from barking, police said.
Mr Sumatra allegedly told police he attacked the victim from behind, covering her mouth with his hand and stabbing her twice. He took a money box filled with more than 10,000 baht in loose change.