Rage halts reenactment of Laotian man in grisly dismemberment killing

Police today took a Laotian man, a former butcher, for a reenactment after he confessed to killing and dismembering his girlfriend. The exercise was, however, cut short when angry residents gathered and hurled abuse at the suspect.

Investigators from Thung Song Hong Police Station escorted the suspect, identified only as ‘Dom’ from a holding cell early this morning to reconstruct the crime.

He was fitted with a helmet and body armour, and was guarded by more than 20 officers.

The first location was a fourth-floor apartment, where the suspect allegedly strangled the victim, a fellow Laotian national identified as Ram Phothirach, to death.

Police said the bathroom was used to dismember the body before the remains were placed in eight black plastic bags.

Officers then took him to additional locations, including areas where he allegedly disposed of blood-stained items and several of the bags containing body parts.

Tensions escalated with local residents shouting insults and condemnation. At one point, police had to restrain a man who approached the suspect, trying to assault him.

Police decided to halt the reenactment after about an hour, citing safety concerns, as more onlookers, including the victim’s colleagues, gathered at the scene.

The suspect was arrested for intentional homicide and concealing a body after being apprehended in Nong Khai province while attempting to flee across border into Laos.

According to police, the suspect confessed during questioning late Wednesday night, claiming he acted out of jealousy.

According to the police, Dom claimed that his girlfriend ran away from their apartment in Bangkok’s Chaeng Wattana area to be with her family in Chon Buri in late February.

This month, Dom went to Chon Buri in an attempt to convince Ram to return to Bangkok and she agreed.

He then persuaded her to return to Laos with him to work there, but Ram refused and a heated argument broke out between them. Dom, allegedly in a fit of jealous rage, allegedly assaulted her until she passed out.

Believing that the woman was dead, the suspect then allegedly used a knife to dismember her and placed her limbs into eight black plastic bags, which were dumped in a canal which runs alongside the Khlong Prapa Road, according to police.

The victim’s family told the police that they suspected something was wrong with Ram when she phoned them for help, claiming she was being detained in her room by Dom.

After that call, they lost contact with her and filed a complaint with the police in Pak Kret district of Nonthaburi.

The victim’s elder brother, ‘Det’, told the police that Dom picked up Ram at her work place in Chon Buri and both returned to Bangkok, adding that, on March 22, Ram called him asking for help, claiming that she was locked in her room following a quarrel with her boyfriend.

She also sent short messages asking for help, said Det, adding that, since he was still at work, he advised her to try to speak with her boyfriend to settle their problem.

After finishing work at around midnight, Det travelled to Bangkok to see Ram at her room in the Chaeng Wattana area, but failed to find her. Finally, the family filed another complaint with Thung Song Hong police.

Police checked CCTV from the apartment at which Dom and Ram stayed and saw Dom carrying some black plastic bags out of the apartment.

Dom later took a flight to Udon Thani province and boarded a bus to Nong Khai, apparently in an attempt to flee back to Laos, but he was arrested by Thai immigration officers.