Son’s mental trek leads to a chilling discovery: Father’s demise in the dead of night

A mentally ill son trekked over 7 kilometres on foot to a police station to inform them that he woke in the middle of the night to find his father dead. Police are now investigating the suspicious death, which occurred yesterday in Chumphon province’s Thung Tako district, in southern Thailand.

The investigating officer, Police Lieutenant Colonel Paisan Srisawat, was alerted by a 51 year old man named Den (a pseudonym) that his 79 year old father had been killed inside their house in Thung Tako. The police officer, finding signs of mental instability in Den, contacted his sister for verification and rushed to the location, discovering the horrifying truth.

The inspection was led by Police Major Kittiphong Thepnhu, Chief Investigator of Thung Tako Police Station, accompanied by medical officers and rescue volunteers. They found the two-storey house’s owner and Den’s father lying dead with several sharp-cut wounds on his neck, right elbow, and back. There were evident signs of a struggle, but no traces of a theft attempt. Recovered from the house were a bent knife, an axe, and two sickles, kept for fingerprint and forensic examination, reported KhaoSod.

Den’s sister revealed that her brother had been mentally ill for the past 30 years since a head trauma incident. He received treatment at a hospital until his condition improved. However, following their mother’s death, he had been erratic due to inadequate medication, often getting into arguments with their father. She lived separately but visited them daily and had last seen the father alive the previous evening.

As per Den’s account, he had discovered their father’s lifeless body at around midnight and decided to notify the police. Along the way, his motorbike fell into a ditch, and he had to abandon it and walk 7 kilometres on foot to the main road, afterwards hitching a ride to the police station. His motorbike was indeed found in a water-filled ditch.

In the preliminary stages, the police took Den’s DNA and fingerprints for comparison and further investigation. The offender, in this case, is yet to be identified, and the investigation continues accordingly.