Picture courtesy of Khoasod.

 

A horrific murder has shocked the local community in Chum Phae district, Khon Kaen province, after a 60-year-old man was beaten to death and his body burned in a rubbish pit in what police describe as a crime of passion and jealousy.

 

The suspect, identified as Mr Boonlert, 49, was arrested on 13 April at his mother-in-law’s home in Non Han subdistrict, following a manhunt by local police. He later confessed to killing Mr Sumon, 60, in a fit of rage after allegedly believing he was attempting to assault his wife inside a rural hut.

 

According to the investigation, officers from Chum Phae Police Station, led by Pol Col Rakchat Rueangcharoen, responded to a report of a murder and body concealment in a public woodland near Ban Non Chat, Na Nong Thum subdistrict. At the scene, police discovered bloodstains, a wooden club, and a hoe, believed to have been used in the attack. A short distance away, they found a two-metre-wide smouldering rubbish pit containing the partially burned body of a man in a green shirt and black shorts. The victim had extensive injuries and his body was around 30% charred.

 

The victim was later identified as Mr Sumon, a local resident. Initial reports suggested that he had visited the hut owned by Mr Boonlert, who was not at home at the time. Mr Boonlert’s 34-year-old wife told investigators she had returned from a local village music event to find her husband drinking with the victim. She later left again after an argument broke out between the two men.

 

Mr Boonlert claimed that upon returning from foraging in the forest that evening, he saw Mr Sumon arriving at the hut and entering while his wife was inside. Believing that the man intended to sexually assault her, following earlier reports from his wife that Mr Sumon had been persistently pursuing her, Mr Boonlert said he hid in the woods and watched. When he saw Mr Sumon enter the hut alone, he rushed in, kicked the man out of the structure, and beat him three times with a wooden stick, killing him. He then dragged the body to a nearby pit, set it alight, and fled with his wife on the victim’s motorbike.

 

Police charged Mr Boonlert with murder and concealment of a corpse. He remains in custody as the investigation continues.

 

-- 2025-04-14

 

On 4/13/2025 at 8:48 PM, Georgealbert said:

He then dragged the body to a nearby pit, set it alight, and fled with his wife on the victim’s motorbike.

 

What happened to his wife any jailtime for her?