CHUMPHON – A jealous jilted lover has been charged with murdering his former girlfriend in a coffee booth at a Tesco shopping centre in front of hundreds of witnesses.
Boonlert Ladlon was arrested and charged with firing the shotgun blast that hit Piyakorn Homlarp, 34, an employee at a coffee booth on the ground floor of the Tesco mall, on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
She was severely wounded and rushed to hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Police said initial inquiries pointed to the shooter being one of her former boyfriends.
Police compared photos of three men with images caught on the store’s CCTV system, which showed a man running out of the shopping complex and fleeing on a motorcycle. There was a clear picture of the licence plate.
The suspect was identified as Boonlert Ladlon.
Pol Lt Col Panintorn Choti, deputy superintendent of Muang Chumphon police station, said Thursday morning that police arrested Mr Boonlert on Wednesday night when he was riding a motorbike and still wearing the same clothing.
He said the man confessed to killing his former girlfriend. He said he had broken off with Piyakorn after she broke her promise to not date a new boyfriend for a while.
Just a few days after making the promise, he saw her out with another man, so he decided to kill her in revenge.
He said he had thrown the gun into a canal. Police said they had not found it yet.
Mr Boonlert was charged with first degree murder.