CityNews – Police in Chiang Dao district yesterday arrested a man for the murder of a youth in a remote cornfield.
The suspect re-enacts the crime with a relative of the dead man yesterday. Photo: Chiang Dao police.
Officers were alerted to the incident yesterday afternoon. They found the body of the field’s owner, 19-year-old Akha man Sitthipong Sumueku, who had been shot in the head. He had reportedly been released from prison on bail just two days before.
His older brother Kampee Sumueku, 33, was found lying unconscious with head wounds nearby. He was given first aid, and later interviewed by officers.
Kampee said he had been sleeping in the field when he was awoken by a gunshot and saw his brother had been killed. He confronted the gunman, who hit him on the head with his gun. He identified the suspect as another Akha man, Jabue Mungpokku, 33, from a nearby village.
Police found Jabue in his house, packing his clothes. They arrested him, seized a gun and took him back to the scene to re-enact the crime.
Jabue confessed to shooting Sitthipong, saying they had argued many times and he had felt threatened as Sitthipong was supported by the authorities in his village.
He decided to take revenge by killing Sitthipong, he said. But for the past few months, Sitthipong had been jailed in Chiang Mai after allegedly providing guns for a group of men to kill Wichit Weicherku, 41, another Akha man and local councillor who was shot dead in June.
After hearing about Sitthipong’s release on bail, Jabue said, he waited until he was alone and shot him. He didn’t know his brother was sleeping nearby, he added.