Thai university student stabbed and burned to death in Nonthaburi

The Forensic Science Institute yesterday discovered hairs belonging to the suspected murderer of a Thai university student on the victim’s hands. The student was found stabbed and burned to death at his dormitory in Nonthaburi province, near Bangkok.

Officers from Rattanathibet Police Station were alerted to a fire in room 611 on the sixth floor of a dormitory in Soi Prachachuen 8 in Nonthaburi province at about 4.20pm yesterday, August 7. Police later arrived at the scene with firefighters, rescuers, and a doctor from the Forensic Science Institute.

The rescue team found the scorched body of a 22 year old male university student, Wissawa, wrapped in a light blue blanket. The entire room was damaged by fire. The only electrical appliance found in the room was a fan, which was not plugged into the socket.

At that time, police were unable to conclude the cause of the fire, as an electrical circuit fault seemed unlikely due to the unplugged fan.

Wissawa’s body was transferred to the Forensic Science Institute, where the doctor found a stab wound to his chest and two cut wounds on his chin and right eyebrow. Wissawa was found tightly holding the hairs of someone in his left hand.

A 27 year old Thai man, Earth, who lived next door told ThaiRath that residents of the dormitory knocked hard on his door and informed him that a fire broke out next door. Earth said he rushed to knock on the door of that room and asked the person inside to come out but received no response.

Alleged killer spotted on CCTV

Earth attempted to kick down the door to enter and extinguish the fire but was unsuccessful. A staff member from the dormitory later arrived to open the door, at which point Earth immediately used a fire extinguisher to spray the room. It was then that Wissawa’s body was discovered.

According to ThaiRath, security camera footage showed Wissawa leaving his room around 1pm and returning at approximately 1.15pm with food. Later, Wissawa was seen leaving again and coming back with another man dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. This man has become the primary suspect in the case, and the hairs found on Wissawa’s hand are believed to belong to him.

Police suspected that the two had engaged in an argument and the suspect stabbed Wissawa to death before destroying all the evidence with fire.

The identity of the suspect had not yet been determined, and the next steps of the police investigation had not been made public.