Chiang Rai Police Investigate After Woman, 71 Found Bludgeoned To Death

Police are rushing to solve murder and robbery after an elderly woman was found bludgeoned to death in her home in the Mueang District of Chiang Rai Province.

Pol. Lt. Songwit Saen-yawut, Deputy Chief of Investigation, Chiang Rai City Police Station, told Thai media that they were notified of a body found inside a house in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province.

Officers rushed to the scene with a doctor from Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital and discovered the body of a 71-year-old woman lying on her right side, who appeared to have been hit in the head with a hard object.

There were wounds to her skull, forehead, nape of the neck, behind her left ear, bruised chest, and front of her torso. Nearby, there were footprints and bloodstains.

Forensic police officers collected forensic evidence at the scene before sending the deceased’s body for examination at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital’s forensic medicine.

An investigation revealed that the deceased’s younger brother had traveled to attend a relative’s funeral ceremony, about 10 km from the house.
He said he noticed something was wrong because the deceased did not go to attend the funeral of a relative or the cremation ceremony.

He told police that he went to look for her at the house around 3:00 p.m. and stood before it, calling for a long time. His sister did not answer, so he called the village headman to come and help look.

He said that when the headman came, they entered the house. They found that the door on the second floor was locked from the inside, so he went outside and climbed in through the window with the help of a ladder.

There, he found his older sister dead. There were signs of struggle, and she lay lifeless on the bed with the TV left on. He said that after inspecting the scene, he found that his older sister’s gold necklace was missing.

He told police his sister lived alone in the house, and all their relatives lived in other provinces.

Police said no neighbors heard anything when the incident happened, and there were no suspects. According to the headman, no one has disappeared from the village. Police warned the villagers to be careful and not to wear valuables out of the house, as this may tempt criminals to commit such an act.

The brother said the deceased lived alone. Her children went to live in Maha Sarakham Province, and her niece went to Phuket Province, and they inly came back home once in a while.

The headman said the deceased was still healthy, cooked her food, and met and talked with her neighbors regularly. Around the house where the incident happened was a fruit orchard, and the road in the alley could lead in many directions.

Initially, police did not find any suspects, but there was a man about 30 years old who had a history of drug use in the next village. He allegedly disappeared from the village about a week before the incident. It is still unclear whether he was the perpetrator or not.