Transgender woman charged with stabbing boyfriend to death

Transgender woman charged with stabbing boyfriend to death

Thanphicha, aka
Thanphicha, aka "Mind", 28, is escorted by Crime Suppression Division police after she was arrested at a house near Victory Monument in Bangkok on Wednesday night on a charge of stabbing her boyfriend to death. (Photo supplied)

A transgender woman has been arrested in Bangkok on a charge of stabbing her long-time boyfriend to death in Khon Kaen's Muang district.

Police now think the murder was motivated by jealousy, and that the victim had wanted to split with her and marry a normal woman.

The suspect had fled first to Chiang Mai by bus, and then taken a train to Bangkok. 

Officers from the Crime Suppression Division and Khon Kaen’s Muang police station apprehended Thanphicha Rodnongkheng at a rented house near Victory Monument in Bangkok on Wednesday night, police told reporters on Thursday morning.

Thanphicha, aka “Mind’’, 28, was wanted on a warrant issued by the Khon Kaen Provincial Court for assaulting another person leading to death.

Thanphicha's boyfriend, Manop Amthao, 27, was found dead with stab wounds in their rented room on Phosarn Road in Khon Kaen’s Muang district on May 28. Thanphicha had vanished.

Police investigators concluded the victim’s missing transgender girlfriend was the prime suspect, and obtained a court arrest warrant. The hunt led them to Bangkok. 

During interrogation, the suspect denied any involvement. Police were not convinced. She was being returned, in custody, to Khon Kaen,

Pol Col Wichai Kamnerdphrom, deputy CSD chief, said during the press conference that security camera recordings showed Thanphicha carrying two black plastic bags believed to have contained bloodstained clothes, and another bag,  as she walked about 15 kilometres through the streets to a bus terminal and then left town.  

Investigators believed they had a solid case against her, he said. (continues below)

Crime Suppression Division police on Thursday announce the arrest of Thanphicha Rodnongkhengher for allegedly stabbing to death her long-time boyfriend in Khon Kaen. (Supplied photo)

Pol Col Wiwat Jitsophakul, deputy superintendent of CSD’s subdivision 3, said the suspect had been tracked from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai through Kalasin, Udon Thani and Phitsanulok provinces. She later boarded a train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, where she was caught. 

An informed source said the suspect claimed Manop was killed by a friend who came to visit him, and she was not there at the time. 

However, security cameras did not record anyone else entering the room that day. 

Investigators suspect jealousy was the motive for the murder, and that Manop was trying to split with her to marry a real woman, the source said.

The victim's relatives have told police they knew Thanphicha was Manop's long-timegirlfriend, but were not aware she was a transgender woman. 

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