Ratchaburi’s Ban Pong Police Station superintendent Pol Colonel Amnuay Pongsawat, 58, allegedly ordered others to abduct the 28-year-old Supaksorn and “teach her a lesson” due to a Bt4-million debt he claimed the victim borrowed from his 38-year-old mistress, Kannikar Krumram.

Amnuay said that he had financially supported Kannikar for three years so she could save money, Sanit said.

However, Kannikar then had a secret romantic relationship with the victim, Sanit said, and prior to the abduction, Kannikar found out that the victim had become close to another woman, resulting in regular arguments.

Sanit said he believed that Kannikar was involved in the murder and possibly provided information to the abductors.

Amnuay, Kannikar and two other suspects, Niwat Suaythong, 32, and Phumithat Phiboonsawat, 24, are now in custody.

Sanit said police would object to bail when they brought Amnuay and Niwat to apply for a court detention order later yesterday.

He said all four suspects had given partial confessions but police would interrogate them and investigate further, adding that they would determine if the motive for the murder was money, as Amnuay reportedly claimed, or some other cause. Police would gather evidence to prove the suspects’ guilt beyond reasonable doubt, he said.

He added that Amnuay, who has been suspended from his police job, would not enjoy any special privileges.

Yesterday afternoon, police took Niwat and Phumithat to re-enact the abduction of Supaksorn on December 13 from her apartment in Soi Phetchkasem 114 in Bangkok’s Nong Khaem district.

According to the re-enactment, Niwat cut in front of the victim’s motorcycle with his pick-up truck while she was leaving her apartment and Phumithat and two others detained her claiming they were police. Police said the captors claimed they then left her at a Kanchanaburi house with three men: two former soldiers, Chaiyuth Benchat, 41, and Panumet Meela, 34; and former policeman Samart Saengsin, 50. All three men are now wanted by police.

Thai-Myanmar border manhunt

Niwat and Phumithat also claimed that they knew the three men had killed Supaksorn and buried her at a prepared spot.

Supaksorn’s body was found on Wednesday evening buried at an abandoned resort in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district.

As of press time, police were still hunting for the three fugitives, who reportedly have knowledge about potential escape routes in the Thai-Myanmar border area.

Meanwhile, the initial autopsy result showed that Supaksorn had died from asphyxiation possibly before she was buried, said Pol-Maj General Pornchai Sutheerakhun, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Police General Hospital, estimating that she died a little more than a week before police discovered her corpse.

Supaksorn’s mother, Sompit Traijandaeng, 46, and relatives yesterday morning performed a religious ritual at the resort “to lead the victim’s spirit home”, Supaksorn’s aunt Somkid Polkha told The Nation. During the ritual, the grief-stricken Sompit became “possessed by her daughter’s spirit”, scolding the attackers and Kannikar and lamenting the victim’s suffering prior to her death, Somkid said.

She added that Supaksorn was the sole breadwinner supporting her mother, who suffered from a chronic illness and had separated from her husband years before. Somkid also said the family did not believe Supaksorn borrowed the Bt4 million as Amnuay claimed.

The victim’s father, Boonchu Polthaisong, 49, who went to collect Supaksorn’s body at the Police General Hospital morgue yesterday for a funeral to be held at Wat Ban Klong E-taek in Sa Kaew’s Muang district, submitted a DNA sample for police to confirm the victim’s identification.

However, officials refused to release the body pending comparison of the DNA , saying the family could collect the body today.