Thai man admits cutting off penis and killing victim in land dispute

Police arrested a Thai man for brutally killing another man on a road in the northern province of Kamphaengphet by repeatedly slashing him and cutting off his penis. The murder stemmed from a land dispute.

Officers from the Khlonglan Police Station on Thursday, August 8, were called to the scene in the Khlong Ngarn district at about 10pm. The crime took place on a dirt road, which was covered in mud due to recent rainfall.

The body of the victim, 53 year old Niwat, was also covered in mud. His overturned motorcycle was found 3 metres away.

Niwat was wearing a red T-shirt and long dark blue trousers. He had deep wounds on his head, exposing his skull, as well as other cut wounds on his right cheek and stomach. His trousers were off and his penis was severed.

Niwat’s wife, who was the first person to discover the body, revealed to the police that her husband left home to visit a temple to collect leftover food for their pet dogs. When he did not return for a long time, she went out to search for him.

The wife spotted the overturned motorcycle and rushed to check, only to be shocked by the lifeless body of her husband. She ran back home to report the matter to the community leader, who then informed the police.

The wife stated that she had no idea what could have led to the murder but believed that the killer must be very angry at her husband, as there was no reason to cut off his penis.

Mislead attempt

Police investigated possible motives for the murder and discovered that the deceased often argued with his neighbour, 58 year old Apiphat, over a land boundary. Officers visited the neighbour’s home yesterday to question him.

Apiphat initially denied any involvement in the murder and allowed the police to search his home. Officers found a knife, suspected to be used in the murder, hidden in a pond on Apiphat’s property, prompting him to confess.

Apiphat admitted that he sold a part of his land to Niwat, but that Niwat often encroached beyond the boundary of what he purchased. Additionally, Niwat still owed 30,000 baht for the land. Their ongoing arguments over this issue led Apiphat to plan the murder.

Apiphat revealed that he cut off Niwat’s private part to mislead the police into thinking the murder was related to adultery.

Niwat’s wife suspected that Apiphat did not commit the crime alone and urged the police to extend their investigation based on her suspicions.

The police have not yet announced the legal charges against Apiphat but took him to the scene of the crime for a re-enactment today.

According to similar cases, Apiphat is likely to be charged under Section 288 of the Criminal Code: intentional murder. The penalty for this offence is either the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for 15 to 20 years.