PEA man held in shooting death of girlfriend

PEA man held in shooting death of girlfriend

A lawyer escorts Krit Thammanusorn, 32, to surrender to police in Chai Nat on Friday evening in the shooting death of his girlfriend. (Photo by Chudate Seehawong)
A lawyer escorts Krit Thammanusorn, 32, to surrender to police in Chai Nat on Friday evening in the shooting death of his girlfriend. (Photo by Chudate Seehawong)

A Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) worker accused of shooting his girlfriend to death after she refused to marry him has surrendered to police and been sent for psychiatric tests.

Krit Thammanusorn, 32, who works at the Krok Phra PEA branch in Nakhon Sawan, surrendered to local police on Friday afternoon before being handed over to police in Chai Nat, where the crime took place.

The suspect was accompanied by his father and a lawyer when he arrived to turn himself in following an intense police search. A .38 pistol allegedly used in the crime was handed over to the authorities.

The suspect had fled after the shooting death of his girlfriend, Passanan Ongchum, 32, in the car park of the Chai Nat PEA branch on Wednesday.

Passanan, employee of the Chai Nat electricity office, was shot in the head three times. A closed-circuit TV camera in the car park captured the shooting that took place at 3.35pm. Mr Krit drove way after the shooting.

On Friday evening, Mr Krit appeared absent-minded during the police interrogation. Police took him to Chai Nat Hospital for a health check-up.

Pol Lt Col Patikorn Hanhatthakit, head of the investigation team in Chai Nat, said on Saturday that the results of the check-up showed the suspect was suffering from stress and showed symptoms of mental problems.

Investigators decided to send him to Jittavej Hospital, a psychiatric institute in Phayuha Khiri district of Nakhon Sawan, for a more thorough evaluation by specialists, said Pol Lt Col Patikorn. Officers were sent to guard him at the hospital around the clock.

The suspect has yet to be taken for a crime re-enactment pending the results of further medical examinations.

Arunee Ongchum, the younger sister of the victim, said Passanan had told her earlier that Mr Krit often got drunk, destroyed things and had quarrels with her in a fit of jealousy.

Mr Krit had also threatened to kill his girlfriend, she said while attending the funeral rite for the victim at a temple in Chai Nat.

The pair had earlier planned to marry, but the man’s behaviour made Passanan decide to keep her distance from him, said her sister.

Mr Krit’s mother told police that her son and his girlfriend had lived together in Nakhon Sawan before the woman broke up with him because of his heavy drinking. She later moved to work in Chai Nat about five months ago.

Her son was sad and tried unsuccessfully to persuade his girlfriend to return, said the mother. 

According to his mother, Krit had previously had three girlfriends. After each breakup he became depressed and tried to overdose on pills, she said.

Police inspect the parking lot at the Chai Nat Provincial Electricity Authority branch where Passanan Ongchum, 32, was shot dead on Wednesday. (Photo by Chudate Seehawong)

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