KHON KAEN: A jealous husband shot dead his wife and his mother-in-law, called his own mother, and then turned the gun on himself, at their home in Khok Phochai district in the early hours of Wednesday.
The three deaths, in Nong Thum village of tambon Ban Khok, were reported to local police about 3am.
Emergency responders found the bodies of three people, all dead with gunshot wounds, inside the house. They were identified by police as Manee Khaokhonkha, 52, her daughter Chanadda Chareechai, 35, and Kraiphop Chareechai, 39.
Police said Kraiphop worked in a factory in Chon Buri and his wife Chanadda was an internal audit employee of tambon Naphaeng municipality.
Pol Col Namchai Sriwiang, chief of Khok Phochai station, said post-mortem examination showed Chanadda sustained three gunshot wounds to her chest. Her mother also had three wounds, in her back and back of her skull. Kraiphop had two gunshot wounds below his left breast. The bodies were found on the ground floor of the two-storey house, which also operates as a grocery store.
Relatives told police Kraiphop worked for a car company in Chon Buri and returned often to visit his wife and their two children - son, 6, and daughter, 4 - at his mother-in-law’s house in Khon Kaen.
He had returned home this time after being told by a friend that his wife was having an affair. He found chats on her phone, and that prompted him to post accusations she was seeing another man on Facebook.
Kraiphop then bought a gun and used it to threaten his wife on Wednesday morning. His mother-in-law was present. When she moved in between them to protect her daughter, Kraiphop shot her. Manee fell to the floor and Kraiphop then shot his wife dead, and later himself, according to police.
Chanadda's elder sister Warissara Laokhonkha, 44, said that during Kraiphop's earlier visits home there were no signs of the approaching tragedy. She was not aware that her sister had a relationship with another man, as he alleged.
Kraiphop's mother Chanthorn Chareechai, 67, also said he never mentioned any family problems. Her son had phoned her on Wednesday morning and said he had killed his wife. He asked her to help raise his children. She immediately went to the house and found the three bodies.
Funeral rites for Manee and her daughter were being held at the house where they were shot dead.
The police investigation was continuing.
Funeral rites for Manee Khaokhonkha, 52, and her daughter Chanadda Chareechai, 35, were held at their house in Khon Kaen on Wednesday. (Photo: Chakrapan Natanri)