Phuket teen ax murderer to face court next week

PHUKET: The 15-year-old boy who confessed to murdering his stepfather with an ax on August 21 has been charged with premeditated murder and will go to trial next week, the Phuket Gazette has learned.

Lt Col Boonlert Onklang of the Chalong Police Station today told the Gazette that the boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, remains in the custody of the Phuket Family and Juvenile Court.

“Officers have been investigating his background, behavior and other factors that might have made him murder his stepfather,” Col Boonlert said.

At the time of the teenager’s arrest, Col Wanchai Palawan, who heads the Phuket Provincial Police investigations division, said that the boy did not like this stepfather and that the stepfather constantly beat the boy’s mother.

“He said he made the decision to kill his sleeping stepfather,” Col Wanchai said.

“We cannot give any further information about the case as it is now with the court. The rest depends on the judge’s decision,” Col Boonlert said today.

As the boy has already confessed, he likely faces 15 to 20 years of incarceration, as prescribed in the Thai Criminal Code.

As he is a minor, it is likely he will be sentenced to serve at least the first years of his sentence at the Phuket Observation & Protection Center at Saphan Hin.

— Irfarn Jamdukor