Thai man beheads his uncle

A Thai man murdered and beheaded his biological uncle yesterday in Songkhla province in southern Thailand.

At 8am, officers at Rattaphum Police Station received a report of a murder behind a house in Khao Phra subdistrict.

Police found the body of 56 year old Wasana [surname withheld] lying on his side. The deceased’s head was missing and nowhere to be found at the scene.

Eyewitnesses to the murder told the police that the perpetrator was the Wasana’s nephew, 36 year old Ek [surname withheld], who lives nearby.

Police arrested Ek at his home and confiscated a 30 centimetre knife used to commit the crime. Ek did not resist arrest, said police.

Ek admitted to murdering his uncle and cutting off his head. Ek said he put Wasana’s head in a plastic bag, walked through the rubber plantations, and dumped it in a pond about 500 metres away from the scene of the crime.

Police found blood stains on the wall, a huge pool of blood behind the kitchen where the murder took place, blood stains from where Ek dragged Wasana’s body and committed the beheading, and blood stains inside the house of the deceased.

Someone working near the pond testified that he saw Ek cling to a log and swimming into the middle of the pond yesterday. The worker asked Ek what he was doing and Ek said “exercising.” The worker said he didn’t realise what had just happened so he just left him to it.

Divers from the Tongxia Xiang Tung Friendship Foundation Rescue Unit in Hat Yai scoured the lake where Ek said he dumped Wasana’s head for hours yesterday but didn’t find it.

Ek told the police that he beheaded his uncle out of anger because he hurt his father and stole a TV. However, the police say that they don’t believe Ek’s testimony because his condition is erratic and he has a history of heavy drug addiction.

At 10am today, divers began searching the lake for Wasana’s head again, but still haven’t found it.

Ek is being held at Rattaphum Police Station while he awaits prosecution.