Songkhla: Police are investigating the cause of death of a Songkhla municipal councillor and his family members that took place on Monday, believing they all might have been drugged by the man's wife before they died.
According to Pol Col Bantoen Laocharoen, chief of Muang Songkhla police station, the suspected murder-suicide was reported via a 191 call at 3.45pm on Monday.
When police arrived at the family home, a two-storey house on Sai Buri Road in the municipal area, they found the bodies of councillor Chaichan Khwanseng, 61, and his son Khanet, 16, in the living room on the ground floor.
On the second floor, police found the bodies of Chaichan's daughter Kotwakorn, 18, and his wife Natpapat, 47, in separate bedrooms. The dead woman was holding a 9mm pistol.
A preliminary investigation showed each victim had a single bullet wound to their head. The mother's body temperature appeared to be the warmest, implying she was the last to die.
Officers also found pillows placed near the bodies, said Pol Col Bantoen.
Investigators believe Natpapat, the mother, may have drugged the others with sleeping pills before shooting them.
She was said to have confided earlier to her sister that the family was heavily indebted. Investigators also found she had gone to her father's house and obtained sleeping pills there shortly before the incident occurred.
According to police, neighbours did not hear any unusual noises from the house around the time of the shooting, suggesting there was no struggle.
Investigators said the wife may have initially attempted to suffocate herself by starting a fire but subsequently turned the gun on herself.
Pol Col Bantoen said Natpapat possibly used the pillows to muffle the sounds of the shots. He said investigators were waiting for detailed autopsy results and tests showing the contents of the stomachs of the deceased.
