Father plunges to death after son’s case dismissed
The head of the Metropolitan Police Bureau said he would revisit a case after a father plunged to his death from the Criminal Court building yesterday after the lower court ruled to dismiss a case involving the murder of his son.
Bureau chief, Pol Lt Gen Charnthep Sesawech, said he was not responsible for the criminal investigation which took place over two years ago. He said he believed the court’s ruling was fair but the man who killed himself could have filed an appeal.
He told media yesterday that he wanted to understand the reason why the court decided to dismiss the case.
Yesterday morning, Supachai Thalahasunthon, a coplaintiff in the case, plunged to his death from the 8th floor of the Criminal Court building in Bangkok.
Supachai, 40, took his own life after hearing the lower court’s decision to dismiss a criminal suit filed against the suspects in a murder case, in which his son was stabbed to death a couple of years ago.
Pol Lt Gen Charnthep said he spoke to the wife of the dead man and learnt that her husband held very high hopes that the court would convict the suspects.
Pol Col Khomsan Sumangkaset, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Division 2, said a preliminary investigation found that the man climbed out of a window along a hallway leading to the courtroom and leapt to his death, said Pol Col Khomsan. Journalists covering court affairs at the court were alerted to the incident about 9.30am, and when they rushed to the scene, they found a body already covered with a white sheet. The corpse was later taken away for a forensic examination.
Suriyan Hongwilai, spokesman for the Office of the Courts of Justice, explained that the lower court dismissed the case after a key eyewitness did not appear in court to testify. This particular witness is receiving treatment in hospital for a psychological condition.
The other piece of evidence submitted for the court’s consideration was security camera footage. However, it only showed the entrance to the soi where the murder took place, not the incident itself, said Mr Suriyan.
He stressed that the case can still be appealed.
A woman who claimed to be a member of the dead man’s family told reporters that there was other key evidence missing from the investigation. She claimed that there was a security camera installed at the murder scene in Din Daeng but the owner of the building claimed it was out of order at the time of the crime.