A key suspect in the Akeyuth Anchanbutr murder case is standing by his confession that he killed the businessman, contradicting claims by his lawyer that he had made a retraction.
Santiphap Pengduang (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)
Suspect Santiphap Pengduang, Akeyuth's former driver, allegedly admitted to the murder after he was arrested on June 10, four days after Akeyuth was reported missing.
However, Akeyuth's relatives' former lawyer Suwat Apaipak last month claimed Mr Santiphap had retracted his confession and accused "men in uniform" of carrying out the killing.
Mr Santiphap appeared at the Criminal Court on Monday to hear separate charges related to a brawl at a karaoke venue last year.
Along with his late boss and Kongkarun Siprasan, Mr Santiphap was accused of physically assaulting three venue staff on Dec 19.
During the trial, reporters asked Mr Santiphap to comment on Mr Suwat's claim that he had retracted his confession.
Mr Santiphap said he stood by his earlier statements to police that he had killed Akeyuth. However, he did accept that he met a female lawyer in prison but said he could not remember her name.
Mr Suwat said last month he sent Achara Saengkhao, a female lawyer, to meet Mr Santiphap in jail. Mr Santiphap allegedly told the lawyer that the mastermind behind the killing was close to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Mr Suwat claimed.
Deputy city police commander Pol Maj Gen Anuchai Lekbamrung, who led the investigative team, denied there were any flaws in the investigation after prosecutors asked his team to provide more information on the case.
Meanwhile, prosecutors will decide whether to indict suspects in the murder of Akeyuth by tomorrow after receiving the new investigative report from police yesterday.
They asked police to conduct an additional probe into four points after the initial report needed clarification.
The details of the points of investigation have not been disclosed, Pol Sub Lt Phongniwat Yutthaphanborikan, chief of the Office of the Attorney-General's Department of Criminal Litigation, said.