Crime Suppression Division police on Monday arrested a fugitive in Loei’s Phu Kradung district for the murder of a 14-year-old girl 14 years ago, Central Investigation Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Jirapop Puridet said.
The arrest of Surachart Khonkhaeng, 65, was made with a warrant issued by the Talingchan Court in Bangkok on June 21, 2007.
Pol Lt Gen Jirapop alleged thatin 2007 Mr Surachart secretly had a sexual relationship with a secondary school girl in Nong Khai who was his wife’s niece. The affair went on for six or seven months. His wife did not know about it.
During a school vacation in that year, the girl returned to visit her parents in Bangkok.
Around that time, Mr Surachart learned that the girl was pregnant. He went from Nong Khai to Bangkok and planned to kill her, for fear their relation would be exposed.
When they met, he allegedly gave her a box of milk laced with pesticide. After drinking the mixture, the girl developed stomach pains and died.
Mr Suchart wrapped the girl’s body in cloth and left it at a waste dump beside a road in Nong Khaem district. The body was later found, prompting a police investigation.
An autopsy at Siriraj Hospital revealed the girl was six months pregnant. Toxic substances were also found in her body.
Investigators learned that Mr Surachart was the last person seen with the girl. Witnesses also saw his vehicle at the spot where the body was dumped. Nong Khaem police obtained a court warrant for his arrest.
Mr Surachart was finally arrested from tambon Somtai in Phu Kradung district of Loei province on Monday, after 14 years on the run.
Pol Lt Gen Jirapop alleged the man confessed to having sex with the girl, but denied having poisoned her. He said he only brought some medicine from Nong Khai and gave it to her in Bangkok, not knowing it conained a poisonous substance.
Mr Surachart was handed over to Nong Khaem police for legal proceedings.
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Surachart Khonkhaeng, second right, is shown a court warrant and arrested by Crime Suppression Division police in Loei’s Phu Kradung district on Monday. (Photo supplied)
