KHON KAEN: Police believe they already have the murderer of a Lao businessman in custody, based on information from recently arrested accomplices.
The suspect was identified as Winyu Chantaphod, 33, also known as Mued, who was arrested in this northeastern province on Sunday, the same day Lao national Suthad Thadjampa was found slain in Ubon Ratana district, his throat slashed and his face smashed in.
Pol Col Pongrit Kongsirisombat, investigative superintendent of Provincial Police Region 4, said on Wednesday night that police on Sunday arrested Wirat Sangpao, 30, a native in Ubon Ratana district, who told them he was with Mr Winyu on Saturday night.
Mr Winyu had him buy three bottles of petrol and took him to Khao Suan Kwang district, where they burned Suthad's pickup truck. Then a friend of Mr Winyu took Mr Wirat back home on a motorcycle.
Mr Wirat said he did not know Mr Winyu murdered anyone, Pol Col Pongrit said.
Pol Col Yuthakorn Wongwian, chief of the Ubon Ratana police station, said police also arrested another suspect, identified only as Art, who helped Mr Winyu move the pickup truck from a roadside area on Saturday night. Art denied knowledge of the murder, the station chief said.
Witness statements and surveillance camera footage indicated that Mr Winyu drove the dead man's truck on both Friday and Saturday nights, and police believed he was the murderer, Pol Col Yuthakorn said.
Police believed a conflict over the drugs business led to the murder of Suthad, who was from Vientiane but worked as a construction contractor in Khon Kaen.
