 |
The condemned man,
Prasittichai Khaokaew, a former Singburi school director, is seen arriving in
court to hear his fate on Thursday. He was sentenced to death to emotional
scenes from the family of his victims and his own kin. The court found him
guilty of the intentional murder of 2-year-old toddler Panuwich Wongyu as well
as shop assistant Thidarat Thongthip and security guard Theerachat Nimma on
January 9th last at the Robinsons Shopping Centre in Lopburi. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2020/08/28/death-sentence-school-boss-murdered-2-year-old-boy-lopburi-gold-shop-robbery/] |
 |
“If the death penalty is to be abolished, let those gentlemen, the murderers, do it first.”-Alphonse Karr |
On this date, July 20,
2021, the Thai Court of Appeal upheld a death sentence imposed last year on a
former school director when he was convicted of murdering three people on
January 9th 2020 during a gold shop robbery in Lopburi and wounding four others,
a crime which at the time stunned the kingdom and for which the public demanded
retribution.
The shooter, Prasittichai Khaokaew should join Somkid Phumphuang (Serial Killer), Artur Segarra Princep (Body Parts Killer), Ronnakorn Romruen (Rapist), Wanchai Saengkhao (Pedophile) and any of those on Thailand’s death row as Thomas Aquinas was quoted in his writing:
"If a man is a danger to the community, threatening it with
disintegration by some wrongdoing of his, then his execution for the healing
and preservation of the common good is to be commended. Only the public
authority, not private persons, may licitly execute malefactors by public
judgment. Men shall be sentenced to death for crimes of irreparable harm or
which are particularly perverted."
|
St.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 11; 65-2; 66-6. [PHOTO
SOURCE: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2016/01/saint-thomas-aquinas-on-death-penalty.html] |
Death penalty for crazed school director who murdered a 2-year-old boy upheld by court
July 21, 2021 at 4:23 pm
by James Morris and Son Nguyen
in Crime, Thailand
The events of Thursday the 9th January 2020 at 8.40 pm at the Robinson Department Store in Lopburi shocked Thai people throughout the kingdom. A concealed figure dressed in military-style clothing appeared to shoot and kill indiscriminately leaving three dead in his wake, a security guard, a beautiful young woman and 2-year-old toddler as well as four people wounded for a bag of gold valued at ฿650,000.
The Court of Appeal upheld the death sentence imposed on Mr Prasittichai Khaokaew, a former school director, who on the 9th of January 2020 murdered three people including two-year-old Panowich Wongyu as he carried out a bizarre and deadly armed robbery at a shopping centre in Lopburi which he later told police was for kicks.
28-year-old Prasittichai Khaokaew as he was taken to court on August 27th last year to hear the death sentence handed down to him. On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal upheld the penalty via a judgment delivered by video conferencing and described the former school director’s actions as ‘cruel and inhumane’. The crazed gunman used an advanced handgun with a silencer to shoot down seven people in a bloody and botched gold shop robbery in Lopburi last year in which 3 people lost their lives, a security guard, 2-year-old toddler and a salesperson at the store that was held up.
The Court of Appeal, on Tuesday, upheld a death sentence imposed last year on a former school director when he was convicted of murdering three people on January 9th 2020 during a gold shop robbery in Lopburi and wounding four others, a crime which at the time stunned the kingdom and for which the public demanded retribution.
The verdict of the higher court was read out via a teleconference facility from the court sitting at Ratchadapisek Road in Bangkok.
Court looked at the facts of the appalling case
It appears from the court’s ruling that the defendant had technically not appealed the murder conviction but it took the opportunity under the law to consider the matter and pronounce judgment after considering the facts of the case.
On the night of January 9th 2020, the then 28-year-old defendant, Prasittichai Khaokaew who was approximately 5 ft 7 in height or 170 cm entered the Robinsons Shopping Centre wearing a balaclava and military camouflage clothes.
The attacker came equipped with an advanced handgun fitted with a specially adapted silencer which was owned by his father and which was traced by police investigators linking him to the crime.
Police later backed this up with DNA testing on clothes worn by the perpetrator.
Bullets shot at shopping centre security guard hit the two-year-old toddler as he walked with his mother
The defendant first shot Mr Prasert Konglee, a security guard at the centre.
However, in a tragic twist to the affair, the bullets fired by the armed robber hit 2-year-old Panuwich Wongyu as the toddler was happily walking in the shopping mall with his mother, Wilaiwan Wongyu.
The little boy died as his distraught mother cradled him in her arms as panicked scenes in the shopping centre emerged, the situation made more confusing by the killer’s silent handgun.
Murdered a 31-year-old shop assistant as he fired at customers at the store wounding them
The defendant then made his way to the Aurora Gold Shop where he promptly shot and wounded two customers who had been buying gold at the shop identified as Mr Yuttakan Chunsanit and Ms Vibhavadi Chunsanit.
He then committed his second murder when he shot dead a 31-year old saleswoman at the counter of the store, Ms Thidarat Thongthip, who refused to cooperate with him.
Her father later recalled the loss of his beautiful young daughter with her life ahead of her.
The killer subsequently told police that he had not meant to kill the saleswoman but his finger got stuck on the trigger.
The defendant then jumped over the counter and grabbed 31 gold pieces and other jewellery with a total value of ฿650,000 into a bag and took off, making his escape from the store.
Killed security guard who attempted to foil his escape
He was intercepted by a second security guard, Mr Theerachat Nimma, who locked an automatic door only to be shot dead by the defendant who smashed his way out before riding off on a 2009 Yamaha Fino motorcycle with black and red trimmings owned by his father in law.
The bizarre and grotesque nature of the robbery and murder was confirmed when the culprit was later tracked down and arrested on January 22nd by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police and armed officers who detained him on the road to his place of work at the Wat Pho Chai School in Singburi province where he was the director.
He was taken from a 5 series BMW into police custody by heavily armed officers.
If an offender has
committed murder, he must die. In this case, no possible substitute
can satisfy justice. For there is no parallel between death and even
the most miserable life, so that there is no equality of crime and
retribution unless the perpetrator is judicially put to death. – Immanuel Kant
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2015/02/immanuel-kants-pro-death-penalty-quote.html] |
Son of a former policeman attended a Children’s Day celebration at his school the day after murdering 2-year-old Panuwich Wongyu in Lopburi
Investigators working on the case, to their horror and disgust, had earlier discovered that the suspect had spent the day after murdering three people, including an innocent 2-year-old boy, at a Children’s Day celebration at his school in Singburi.
It also emerged that he was the son of an ex-police officer.
The killer, known as ‘Golf’, had been married for over three years but it is understood he was in financial difficulties.
Borrowed ฿2 million from Krung Thai Bank, fined ฿600,000 for owning an illegal Z4 BMW car
He had borrowed over ฿2 million from Krung Thai Bank and also, in his past, police discovered he had a Z4 series BMW seized by authorities after it was found to have been imported illegally.
He was fined ฿600,000 for ownership of the car he allegedly purchased for ฿300,000.
His school director’s salary was ฿30,000 a month.
During interrogation by investigating police officers, at one point, he told them that he had committed the robbery for the kicks knowing full well he would be identified and arrested later.
Wife forced into hiding as killer’s arrest last year drew spontaneous applause from the press and the public
After the killer’s arrest, his wife was forced into hiding as public anger over the outrage vented itself.
His arrest at the end of January drew spontaneous applause from reporters and the general public alike when announced by then National Police Commissioner, General Chakthip Chaijinda, who prioritised the case.
Cruel, inhuman and contrary to peace and justice, the court found no basis to grant mercy in the case
The court, on Tuesday, did adjust the interest payable on compensation ordered for the victims of the crime and families from 7.5% to 5% citing a new law that made such an order necessary.
However, it found the actions of Mr Prasittichai and the circumstances of the case to be so cruel, inhuman and contrary to justice and peace, that it was impossible to commute or grant mercy.
It upheld the death sentence imposed by the court on August 27th last year, a verdict greeted, at the time, on both sides of this terrible affair, with tears and emotion.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2021/07/21/death-penalty-for-murdering-school-director/
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=148609157355082&id=101692122046786
The man suspected of shooting dead three people, including a young boy, and severely wounding four others is Prasittichai Khaokaew, 38, the director of Wat Pho Chai School in nearby Muang district of neighbouring Sing Buri province.
|
 |
The Lopburi Robinson department store shooting [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1841459] |
Death sentence imposed on school boss who murdered a 2-year-old boy in a gold shop robbery in January
August 28, 2020 at 12:23 am
by James Morris and Son Nguyen
The callous and egregious nature of the crime committed at the Robinsons Shopping Centre in Lopburi last January deeply shocked the public not only in Thailand but around the world. The fact that the masked killer in black turned out to be a primary school headteacher, weeks later when the arrest was made, was another vile twist of fate in a story that has caused so much devastation and loss.
A murderer was served with justice in a Bangkok courtroom on Thursday when the death sentence was handed down to a 28-year-old former school director of Wat Pho Chai School in Singburi, Prasittichai Khaokaew. The court’s decisive ruling drew emotional reactions both from the families of the victims and those of the accused man.
"In
criminal law legislation, our priority is the security and well being of
law-abiding citizens rather than the rights of the criminal to be protected
from incriminating evidence." – Lee Kuan Yew
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208686221008588&set=a.1206445396945.2031621.1102965071&type=3&theater] |
The condemned man, Prasittichai Khaokaew, a former Singburi school director, is seen arriving in court to hear his fate on Thursday. He was sentenced to death to emotional scenes from the family of his victims and his own kin. The court found him guilty of the intentional murder of 2-year-old toddler Panuwich Wongyu as well as shop assistant Thidarat Thongthip and security guard Theerachat Nimma on January 9th last at the Robinsons Shopping Centre in Lopburi.
A killer who once was a school principal in an elementary school in Singburi turned around to look at his relatives in dejected silence on Thursday morning at a courtroom in Bangkok as they lost control and became emotional when he was sentenced to death.
On Thursday, January 9th last, Prasittichai Khaokaew, also known as Golf, a well to do and married school administrator who drove an expensive BMW car, walked into a crowded shopping centre in downtown Lopburi and unleashed terror and evil.
He was masked, dressed in black and heavily armed with both the necessary firepower and criminal intent.
Within minutes, three people, including a two-year-old toddler in his mother’s arms, were dead
Within minutes, he had gunned down three people including a security guard at a gold shop, a young sales assistant and tragically, one of his bullets hit a two-year old little boy walking nearby with his devoted mom. Little Panuwich Wongyu died in his crazed mother’s arms.
The killer was using a state of the art handgun with a specially adapted silencer.
If the death penalty was
not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right
and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser." - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/hwwv7bcchftj/1092/if-the-death-penalty-was-not-imposed-then-wrong-really-has] |
Crime flashed to news sites worldwide
The crime was flashed to the news channels and immediately drew international coverage not just in Thailand but the rest of the world. It was a callous, cowardly and selfish act based on greed.
There were few in Thailand, this Thursday, who have even scant sympathy for this monster posing as a human being.
Told bewildered police after he was arrested that he committed the crime for the ‘thrill’
The accused, at one point, told police that he undertook the crime and escapade for the thrill of it. Today, it was revealed that he had, through his lawyers, presented his weasel words to the court seeking mercy on the basis that he had pleaded guilty and that through his overreaching lifestyle, he had been driven towards evil by the fear of what would happen if he could not meet his ballooning debts.
Murderer’s wife became another victim
Mr Prasittichai’s despicable act not only took three lives that evening but later caused his own wife to flee from her home such was the vitriol directed towards her due to her husband’s shameful and inhuman behaviour.
The killer’s father was a retired police officer whose name he used to purchase the advanced firearm and to which he added a sophisticated silencer that was eventually to lead diligent Thai police to the door of his BMW car one morning as he travelled to work in Singburi as the boss of a children’s school.
Used father in law’s motorbike and purchased the firearm and silencer in his father’s name
He even used a motorbike owned by his father-in-law to commit the perverted act when dressed from head to toe in black and military fatigues, he terrified the Robinson Shopping Centre in Lopburi and robbed over ฿650,000 in gold jewellery scooped into a bag.
Most of the gold was later recovered except the lives that he took and the lives that he destroyed can never be brought back.
38-year-old Prasittichai
Khaokaew as he was taken to court on August 27th last year to hear the death
sentence handed down to him. On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal upheld the penalty
via a judgment delivered by video conferencing and described the former school
director’s actions as ‘cruel and inhumane’. The crazed gunman used an advanced
handgun with a silencer to shoot down seven people in a bloody and botched gold
shop robbery in Lopburi last year in which 3 people lost their lives, a
security guard, 2-year-old toddler and a salesperson at the store that was held
up.
|
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2021/07/21/death-penalty-for-murdering-school-director/] |
Court Delivers justice on Thursday morning
The killer was brought, this Thursday, from Klong Prem Central prison in Bangkok to courtroom 714 at the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Road. Therein, the grim sentence was handed down.
The judgement made it clear that the court was satisfied that, based on the evidence before it, the man had carried out the crimes.
It noted that his confession, and evidence given to police, was of some value but observed that he failed to give testimony to the court while pleading guilty to his appalling crimes.
Guilty of intentionally murdering 2-year-old Panuwich Wongyu, a young woman and guard
The court pointedly noted that the murderer had not surrendered himself to police despite later explaining to investigating officers that he knew, all along, that his arrest was inevitable.
The court also held that when Mr Prasittichai raised his pistol that night to gun down the security guard, Mr Theerachat Nimma and young shop assistant Thidarat Thongthip, in the commission of the gold shop robbery, he also was responsible for the consequence of this which was the intentional murder of little 2-year-old, Panuwich Wongyu.
 |
“Countries
that give up the death penalty award an unimaginable advantage to the criminal
over his victim, the advantage of life over death.” - Lech Aleksander
Kaczyński https://themightymenregiment710.blogspot.com/2017/04/in-loving-memory-of-lech-kaczynski-18.html |
No basis for mercy under the law
Overall, on that basis, the court judged that there was no possibility of remitting the heavy sentence that should be applied to Mr Prasittichai.
It said that his actions must be answered with justice and sentenced him to death.
It noted the seriousness of the crimes and further judged the man to be a real threat to society.
The strong judgment of the court led to emotional outbursts from some relatives of the victims but when the death sentence was imposed, the killer’s family also reacted. Some of them sobbed openly in court.
This caused him to turn and observe some little instance of the grief and pain he inflicted with his 9mm handgun fitted with an advanced noise suppressor.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2020/08/28/death-sentence-school-boss-murdered-2-year-old-boy-lopburi-gold-shop-robbery/
 |
“The death penalty is
legitimate. Many cases of severe crime have happened. Capital punishment exists
to guarantee national peace and teach lessons. It is a necessity for us
and people want it,” the prime minister said. [PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1488438/prayut-death-penalty-necessary-for-peace] |
OTHER LINKS:
https://www.thephuketnews.com/death-penalty-upheld-for-gold-heist-schoolmaster-80753.php
No comments:
Post a Comment