'Mentally ill' killer nabbed in Lop Buri

'Mentally ill' killer nabbed in Lop Buri

Police on Tuesday night arrested a man who broke into a house and allegedly murdered and raped a woman and injured her nine-year-old daughter in Lop Buri province.

"I'm not fully aware of how I got into the victims' house or what I did because I'm mentally ill," Boonchuay Yanthoop, 36, told police.

The man admitted to the crime, but denied that he raped Somnuek Tangsakul, 42.

The suspect said he drank a small bottle of liquor and was heading out to find fish and frogs to sell, but somehow he ended up in the woman's home.

Boonchuay Yanthoop: I'm mentally ill and I don't know what I did.

Mr Boonchuay said he walked into the bedroom and saw Ms Somnuek asleep. As he approached her, she woke up and a fight broke out between them.

After the woman became motionless, her daughter entered the room and started screaming so he smacked the child across the face.

He then tied together the mother's neck and her feet and set fire to the bed to get rid of the evidence.

The woman's clothes were torn during the fight, he did not rape her, according to his testimony.

The child told police that she pretended to be unconscious and heard what sounded like the man raping her mother. She eventually dozed off.

When she woke up she saw that the bed was on fire so she ran to the bathroom to get water to put out the flames.

The girl then realised that her mother was dead and went to her cousins for help.

The girl had bruises all over her body, police reported.

"At the time I was in a blur, and I am mentally ill. I don't know what I did, but I know now [what I did] was wrong. 

"Do you understand what mentally ill means? I am already dealing with a lot of stress as it is," Mr Boonchuay said during the interrogation, according to police.

Police did not believe the man and charged him with intentional homicide and intent to conceal the body.


In the video clip below, from Channel 3 news, murder suspect Boonchuay tells police and reporters that he is mentally ill and felt blurred when he committed the crime.

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