Brutal Murder of 70-Year-Old Temple Caretaker: Body Dumped in Forest, Suspect Returns to Crime Scene
A 70-year-old temple caretaker was found murdered in a forest near Nakhon Sritummarat after going missing on May 1; police suspect a recently hired worker who attacked him at home and dumped his body.
On May 4, 2569, Pol. Lt. Col. Jenpop Butgarinee, superintendent of Khao Phanom Police Station in Krabi, along with forensic officers and rescue units, investigated human remains discovered along the Kowtong-Khao Kaew road in Nakhon Sritummarat. The discovery came after villagers reported a foul smell in the area.
Initially, scattered hand and foot bones were found near the roadside, along with a white cloth, a wall clock, religious prayer papers, a pen, and a vehicle license plate numbered Khorompho 383 from Nakhon Sritummarat. Three hundred meters deeper into the forest, a complete body was discovered, estimated to have been dead for 2-3 days. The body showed signs of severe blunt force trauma to the left side of the skull, causing it to collapse. The victim was identified by relatives as Somphong, 70, a gardener and temple caretaker from Plaichao District, Krabi, who had disappeared on May 1 after leaving on his three-wheeled motorcycle with a trailer.
Somphong's sister, Prapian, 62, revealed that her brother was well-liked and had recently hired a worker in his 30s to work in his palm plantation and build a house. That morning, the worker had asked to borrow 300 baht; Somphong gave him 500 baht and suggested he leave because of his drug use. The worker later returned to sell Somphong a 200-liter water tank for 300 baht. The next morning, Somphong was missing. The family found the house ransacked with blood stains inside and reported him missing to Plaichao Police Station.
Pol. Lt. Col. Jenpop believes the suspect is the recently hired worker who attacked Somphong at his home, loaded the body onto the motorcycle trailer, dumped it, and returned to the scene the next morning. The suspect was spotted sitting at the crime scene by villagers passing by, but later disappeared. Investigators theorize the suspect then dragged the decomposing body deeper into the forest, where the skin on the hands and feet peeled away and scattered. The body was finally hidden 300 meters from the road. The suspect is believed to have recently rented a house with his wife in Plaichao District and is originally from one of three southern provinces. Police are intensifying efforts to identify and apprehend him.
