Monk nabbed for killing estranged wife over Facebook posts

Monk nabbed for killing estranged wife over Facebook posts

Phra Suraphon Sataesri, of a temple in Nong Khai, is arrested on Tuesday on charges of killing his estranged wife in Khon Kaen. (Photo by Jakkrapan Nathanri)
Phra Suraphon Sataesri, of a temple in Nong Khai, is arrested on Tuesday on charges of killing his estranged wife in Khon Kaen. (Photo by Jakkrapan Nathanri)

KHON KAEN – Police on Tuesday captured a monk wanted for fatally stabbing his estranged wife in a fit of anger after reading Facebook posts that made him assume she had a new lover.

Phra Suraphon Sataesri was arrested about five kilometres from the crime scene in Mancha Khiri district of this northeastern province on Tuesday afternoon, said Pol Col Kittirat Noiphonthong, chief of Mancha Khiri police station, who led the search for the killer of 39-year-old Nid Buddaboon.

Seized from the suspect were two knives and a blood-strained saffron robe.

The woman was found dead at her house in tambon Nakha on Tuesday morning with multiple knife wounds to the neck, face and torso. Witnesses told police the murderer was her husband.

Mr Suraphon, formerly Phra Suraphon who was defrocked shortly after being arrested, confessed he had lived with the woman for six years before deciding to enter the monkhood at a temple in Nong Khai province about a year ago. The woman had two children from her previous marriage.

While he was ordained, he had kept monitoring her activities on her Facebook page every day. He saw posts that made him believe that she had gotten romantic with another man.

Police said he admitted he felt jealous and went to her village on Monday, waiting for her to arrive home. He said he then climbed through a bedroom window and attacked his estranged wife after being discovered by her daughter.

The suspect told police the woman had broken a vow to remain true to him while he was in the monkhood.

The defrocked monk was charged with murder and held in police custody for legal action, said Pol Col Kittirat.

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