Death Sentence Overturned for Am Cyanide in 'Nui' Case; Helpful Testimony Reduces Sentence to Life Imprisonment

On April 30, 2025, the Criminal Court on Ratchadamri Road held a sentencing hearing in case number Or.526/2568, with the Public Prosecutor's Office Section 9 prosecuting 39-year-old Sarunrat, also known as Am cyanide, on charges of premeditated murder. This is the fourth case involving the defendant. The charges stem from August 9, 2022, when the defendant allegedly poisoned the food and beverages of Police Lieutenant Colonel Sukanada Wimolmalai, known as Nui, a former deputy financial officer at Phu Pha Man Police Station in Khon Kaen Province, ultimately causing her death. The defendant denied the charges and contested the case by claiming alibi.

During the hearing, prison officials brought Am cyanide to court, where she wore dark sunglasses and maintained a composed demeanor to hear the court's verdict. The court analyzed testimony and evidence from both sides and found that on the day of the incident, the defendant and victim traveled together to a fortune teller's temple to consult about job positions, duties, and the victim's romantic matters. Prosecution witnesses testified that they saw the defendant frequently entering and exiting the temple and making phone calls, and later persuading the victim to leave the fortune-telling session.

Afterward, they dined together in Nakhon Pathom Province before parting ways. The victim subsequently suffered a car accident on a roadside in Kanchanaburi Province while heading home. Rescue workers reported finding the victim unconscious, and she later died. Prosecution witnesses testified that the victim died from heart failure, and toxicology reports confirmed the presence of cyanide in her body. Medical experts confirmed the victim died from respiratory system failure caused by cyanide poisoning.

Multiple prosecution witnesses provided consistent testimony, including one who confirmed the defendant purchased cyanide and was the last person with the victim while in possession of the poison. The court found the prosecution's evidence compelling and credible, with no apparent motive for false testimony. The defendant's defense arguments contained suspicious contradictions and failed to refute the prosecution's evidence. The court ruled the defendant guilty as charged and initially imposed a death sentence.

However, considering the defendant's helpful testimony as somewhat mitigating, the court reduced the sentence by one-third to life imprisonment and ordered this sentence to run consecutively after the defendant's previous two convictions of death sentence and life imprisonment from the same court.

Reports indicate this is the fourth conviction for Am cyanide on murder charges. Previous cases include: Case 1 resulted in a death sentence for poisoning Siriporn Khanvongse; Case 2 involved poisoning Nipha, a female police officer, initially sentenced to death but reduced to life imprisonment due to helpful testimony; Case 3 involved the poisoning death of young engineer Nittaya Kaewbuppha in Nakhon Pathom, which was dismissed due to insufficient evidence that the defendant possessed cyanide or had motive for property gain.