SURAT THANI: Two more people have been found shot dead following an armed rampage at a house in Khirirat Nikhom district on Saturday when four people were killed. The deaths are all related, further complicating the case, police said.
The most recent deaths were the wife of a prime suspect in Saturday's murders, a police senior sergeant major, and his son by a former wife. Each died from a single bullet wound to the head, police said.
On Monday, police also released more details of the movements of the two brothers at the centre of the killing spree. They had both briefly stayed at the resort where the wife was found dead on Monday. They left on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon, four attackers arrived in a car at a house at Moo 8 in tambon Kapao.
Police investigators said security camera footage showed three of them got out of the car, stormed into the house and began a wild shooting spree.
The three gunman were alleged to be Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn Wichian, 46, of Khirirat Nikhom police station, his elder brother Thammarat Wichian, 48, and Manop Wang-ngan, 57. The first two were allegedly each armed with an M16 rifle and Mr Manop with a shotgun.
The sound of multiple gunshots was clearly heard.
Four people were killed. They included Thammarong Nilniyom, 60, the owner of the house; his wife Nilthip Palakachen, 49; and Pornsak Phetchu, 56, a former chief of Moo 13 village in tambon Tha Khanon. The fourth was Thammarat, one of the attackers, who was believed shot by one of the victims.
The two surviving gunmen fled in the waiting car.
On Sunday, the Surat Thani Court approved warrants for the arrest of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and Mr Manop on murder charges.
On Sunday night, Atthapol Wichian, 25, son of alleged shooter Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn, was found dead in a car parked inside Wat Kraisorn Ketraram at Moo 4, tambon Khao Phang, in Ban Takhun district.
Atthapol was dead in the front passenger seat, which had been tilted back into a reclining position. He was shot in the right temple. The body was covered with a cloth. The hands were tied together with white cotton yarn. A spent 9mm ammunition cartridge was found inside the car. Atthapol was believed to have been killed about three hours earlier, police said.
Atthapol was Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn's son by a former wife.
And then on Monday, Khirirat Nikhom police were informed about 9.10am that a woman had been found dead in a room at Leelawadee Resort on rural road 4247 in tambon Tha Khanon, Khirirat Nikhom district.
The woman was identified as Panida Nilniyom, 34, the only daughter of Thammarong, who was killed in the Saturday attack. Panida was the wife of fugitive suspect Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn, who is wanted under a court warrant for the Saturday attack. The cause of her death was not initially reported.
Police said later on Monday that Panida was shot in the mouth with a 9mm pistol.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn had arrived at the resort with Panida about 6pm on Friday in a Suzuki car he borrowed from a police friend. He rented a room. About noon on Saturday Thammarat, his elder brother, arrived and took another room.
The two brothers then left in a Toyota Vios and did not return, leaving the Suzuki at the resort.The two men are alleged to have attacked the people in the house in Khirirat Nikhom district on Saturday afternoon. On Monday morning, resort staff opened the two rooms and found Panida dead in one of the rooms.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn was still at large on Monday.
Provincial Police Region 8 commissioner Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomchit confirmed on Sunday that Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn was Thammarong's son-in-law. He divorced his former wife in October 2022 and married Panida, who divorced her former husband in mid-2022.
Thammarong reportedly disliked Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and wanted to break up their marriage, putting the two men in conflict. This was believed to be the motive for Saturday's attack.
The police investigation was continuing.