Thai woman shot dead in cemetery over 50 million baht inheritance dispute
A Thai woman yesterday surrendered to police for shooting dead her sister-in-law at a cemetery in Chon Buri following a dispute over an inheritance of 50 million baht.
The 52 year old Thai woman, Kantana-on Ditprasert, was found dead at a cemetery in the Si Racha district of Chon Buri at around 6pm on Saturday, March 22. Kantana-on worked as a caretaker at the cemetery.
A colleague of Kantana-on reported hearing gunshots at the spot where Kantana-on was cleaning. When she rushed to check, she found that Kantana-on had already died. The victim sustained five gunshot wounds to her chest, back, and left arm.
The suspect was reported to be her sister-in-law, later identified as 36 year old Dawika. Kantana-on and Dawika had reportedly argued over an inheritance from Kantana-on’s father.
Police summoned Dawika’s husband, Kantana-on’s brother, 43 year old Sujin, for questioning. Sujin claimed that he was unaware of the cause of the shooting and did not know about the argument over the inheritance between his sister and his wife.
Officers tracked down Dawika and discovered that she had indeed visited the cemetery before leaving in her white pickup truck.
The vehicle was later found abandoned on the side of the road, 5 kilometres from the scene. Dawika was subsequently apprehended while attempting to continue her escape in another car.
Dawika eventually surrendered herself to the police yesterday, March 23, at Si Racha Police Station. She handed over the .38 pistol used in the murder to the police as evidence.
Dawika admitted to killing Kantana-on over the inheritance dispute. She explained that her father-in-law had sold plots of land and earned 50 million baht but did not share the money with any of his children. Instead, he appointed Kantana-on as his estate manager.
According to Dawika, Kantana-on kept all of the money for herself, even when her husband requested 10 million baht from her.
Frustrated by their unsuccessful attempts to obtain the requested amount, the ongoing argument eventually prompted Dawika to murder Kantana-on at her workplace on the day of the incident.
Dawika was charged under Section 288 of the Criminal Law for intentional murder, which carries a punishment of the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for 15 to 20 years.
She was also charged under the Act on Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, Fireworks, and Imitation Firearms, although the details of the charge have not been made public.
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