Her son was stabbed to death. When a court dismissed the case against his alleged murderer, her husband committed suicide. But Rewadee Talhasuntorn has not given up: she's appealed the dismissal and is fighting for the inclusion of a key witness to the brutal crime.
Rewadee Talhasuntorn and her lawyer went to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) on Wednesday to file a request with prosecutors for permission to force the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) to allow her and her lawyers to access the case report of her son, Thanit.
Her visit to the OAG followed desperate attempts to contact the MPB, which -- according to one of her lawyers, Anantachai Chaidet -- has failed to respond to her request. The widow asked the MPB in October to provide a copy of the police investigation report on the case involving her late son.
Thanit, 23, was stabbed to death on the night of April 15, 2016 in Bangkok's Din Daeng district. Prosecutors accused Nathapong Ngoenkhiri, 19, of the murder. The Criminal Court acquitted the defendant on July 23 last year, citing insufficient evidence.
The absence of Peerawit Puttajinarak, the only witness present at the time and place the crime was committed, was the main reason given by the court for dismissing the case. It argued other pieces of evidence, including footage from security cameras, carried no substantial weight.
Mr Peerawit, 24, could not appear before the court as a witness because he was mentally ill, according to the police report of the case.
After hearing that the case was dismissed, Ms Rawadee's husband, Supachai, 52, jumped to his death from a balcony at the courthouse.
Rewadee Talhasuntorn meets with Kosolwat Inthujanyong, the deputy spokesman of the Office of the Attorney-General. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)
The case took an unexpected turn when the absent witness, Mr Peerawit, was arrested on Oct 15 this year by police at the Prawet station for robbing and attacking a man in the district.
The arrest raised questions about the claim that Mr Peerawit was so incapacitated that he was unable to appear as a witness in the Thanit case.
Mr Anantachai said on Wednesday that the legal team helping Ms Rewadee wanted to see the police case report to look for evidence that Mr Peerawit might not have been as mentally ill as was claimed.
As prosecutors are appealing the case to the Appeal Court, the lawyer said flaws in the police case report, together with the arrest of Mr Peerawit, might convince the court to summon him as a witness during the process.
Kosolwat Inthujanyong, the OAG deputy spokesman, said after talking to Ms Rewadee that prosecutors would support her appeal and were confident the dismissal of the case could be overturned by the Appeal Court.
But Ms Rewadee is already deeply depressed. "I don't want to live anymore since my husband died," Ms Rewadee told the OAG deputy spokesman. "I want to jump off a building at the Royal Thai Police Office."
Mr Kosolwat told her to continue her fight for justice -- for her dead son and husband, and for her younger son, who still has much to live for.