Latest homeless killing ‘not linked’ to previous deaths

>> A 24-year-old man has been charged over the death of a homeless man in Bangkok’s Bung Kum district, with police moving to assure the public the killing was unconnected to five other deaths early this month.

The body of the victim was found lying naked on one side, with deep cuts to the head and blood stains on his mouth and nose, in front of a deserted shophouse at the entrance of Soi Nawamin 92 on Monday.

Footage from a nearby closed-circuit television camera showed a man in a white long-sleeved shirt and shorts running away from the murder scene to a nearby soi on Monday evening, said Pol Col Suriya Nakkaew, chief of Khok Kram police station.

The officers tracked down the suspect and found him sleeping beneath an expressway about 5km from the murder scene, Thai media reported.

The man was identified as Nopparat Srikaew, 24. While he was registered at a home in Klong Sam Wa district of Bangkok, he was living rough, police said.

During interrogation, Mr Nopparat allegedly told police he saw the victim standing naked at the crime scene that night.

He then confronted the man, who appeared to be mentally ill, over the lewd behaviour.

A quarrel erupted and this prompted him to kick the victim a few times. Police said he confessed to using a wooden baton to hit the victim in the head and face four times before fleeing.

Police found traces of bruises on the suspect’s body and blood stains on his clothes. The evidence was sent for forensic testing, said Pol Col Suriya.

The investigators have charged him with assault occasioning death, but would not rule out upgrading the charge to murder pending further evidence. He remains in police custody.

In the past month, five homeless people and scavengers have been found dead in Bangkok and Pathum Thani.

Earlier this month, police arrested a 20-year-old homeless Myanmar man known as Jimmy for allegedly murdering four of them.