Kanchanaburi police hunt for murderer who taunts cops with Facebook riddle
Police in Kanchanaburi are racing against time to apprehend a brutal murderer who allegedly shot a transgender woman dead in an apparent robbery. The suspect, obviously a fan of serial killer movies, then audaciously taunted authorities and friends of the victim by using her stolen phone to post a chilling riddle on her Facebook account asking, “Do you know who the killer is?”
The dead woman, identified as 38 years old Phanuchaya Niamthong, worked in a local department store. Her lifeless body was discovered in her bedroom, face down on her bed, with a pillow covering the back of her head. A bullet had penetrated the pillow, striking her left cheek, indicating that she was shot at close range. A spent 38 shell casing was found beside the bed, which the police took as evidence.
In a macabre twist, the perpetrator locked the doors from the inside and used a master key to lock the main gate from the outside before making their escape. Upon inspection, authorities discovered that a 2-baht-weight gold ring, two mobile phones, a collection of coins amounting to 5,000 baht, and the keys to her motorbike and house were missing.
The murder case, which took place yesterday, has two primary lines of investigation: robbery, and a possible relationship gone wrong. Phanuchaya often brought close male friends home, which could have given the murderer knowledge of her property and where she kept her valuables.
Police are currently tracking down her circle of close male friends for questioning. In addition, they are scrutinising footage from nearby CCTV cameras in the hope of identifying a vehicle that might belong to the suspect.
Adding to the horror, a colleague of the deceased discovered an eerie status update on Phanuchaya’s Facebook account shortly after news of her death broke.
The status, which was not there before, asked, “Do you know who killed Ariya?” A smiling emoji featured alongside it. Ariya was an alternate name Phanuchaya used on one of her Facebook profiles. This led to the speculation that the suspect used the stolen phone to mock law enforcement and taunt them about their inability to catch him, reported KhaoSod.
