Priyanuch Nonwangchai told this to a grandmother and aunt of the deceased, Warisara Klinjui, during a re-enactment of the crime yesterday at a bamboo forest in Khao Suan Kwang district in Khon Kaen.

The place was where Priyanuch and accomplices buried the victim, a 22-year-old karaoke bar singer, after the prime suspect allegedly strangled her. The victim’s body was sawn in half and put in a barrel before being buried.

The killer asked for forgiveness from the victim’s relatives, grandmother Samran Piakaen and aunt Sakuntala Piakaen, who were among several hundred onlookers.

“I had no intention to kill her. If I did, I would have fled [and not come back],” Priyanuch told the relatives, who responded by asking: “Why did you kill her?”

Many of the onlookers became angry and booed throughout the re-enactment.

Police accompanied the prime suspect and two of her accomplices to many locations in the northeastern province yesterday while they went through their alleged crime. Several police officers were heavily armed.

The trio surrendered to Myanmar police on Saturday night and were handed over to immigration police in Chiang Rai on Sunday.

The female accomplices were Kawita Rachada and Apiwan Satayabundit. Two other suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested earlier – in Laos and in Bangkok.

Yesterday, the suspects were handcuffed publicly for the first time after their arrest following an outcry over police allegedly showing leniency towards them.

Priyanuch, Kawita and Apiwan were interrogated by investigators at Khao Suan Kwang Police Station for much of Sunday night, according to a source.

After their arrest, the trio were taken from Chiang Rai to Bangkok on Sunday for a press conference with national police chief General Chakthip Chaijinda, before being sent to Khon Kaen for detention.

Yesterday, police took them to eight locations to re-enact their crime. That included a resort in Khon Kaen where the victim’s body was allegedly cut in half, and a convenience store where materials were bought to conceal the body.