Police have already obtained a confession to the murder but have asked the local hospital to be more definite on how the young trans woman died. 26-year-old Worawat Chanthiam said he attacked his transgender lover after first driving his motorbike back and forth in anger, with intent to kill.
Police in Prachin Buri are finalising their case as they prepare to charge a 26-year-old man from Chachoengsao province with the murder of his 24-year-old transgender lover on Sunday near a bridge overlooking a canal where the pair had earlier arranged to meet online using Facebook. The younger sister of the victim told reporters her brother was the subject of constant online abuse from the wives of men she was dating.
A married man in Prachin Buri province on Sunday took the life of a 24-year-old transgender woman he had been having an affair with by slitting his lover’s throat.
Police Captain Pannawit Boonchum of Ban Sang Police Station was notified on Thursday that a body was found near a pond in the Ban Sang District of the province by a 76-year-old man, Mr Sunthorn Sangsiri who had gone there to bathe his feet.
Rescue services already at the scene where the floating body of Ms Apinat Plookpluem was recovered
When Captain Pannawit arrived at the scene there was already a rescue service in attendance. The body had been retrieved from the water where it was earlier found lying face down and floating wearing a black T-Shirt.
Police have identified the victim as 24-year-old Ms Apinat Plookpluem, a ladyboy who lived in a village located in the sub-district of Bang Taen nearby.
The victim’s body is reported to have had a distinctive black Tantra tattoo on his back with five rows on the left-hand side while on the right there was a bird wing illustration.
Suspect in the case was quickly identified by police and later arrested near his home in Chachoengsao
The deceased had suffered a sharp neck wound that appeared to have cut through the younger man’s throat. Forensic experts estimated that the body had been in the pond for approximately three days.
Investigating police officers quickly established that the victim had previously been in contact with 26-year-old Worawat Chanthiam who resided in the Bang Nam Priao District of Chachoengsao province on the social network site Facebook.
The suspect Mr Worawat was arrested by police on Thursday riding his red Honda motorcycle registration number 1 Korn 5071 near his home and brought to Ban Sang Police Station.
Arrested man has confessed to the murder of his ladyboy lover after pleading to end the affair
Police have reported that he has confessed to the crime and is now being charged in connection with the killing.
He said he had arranged the rendezvous with Ms Apinat, his transgender lover, at the bridge and explained to him that their relationship had to end. It was causing him severe difficulties at home with his wife.
However, Apinat did not agree and refused to cut off all contact with the man.
This had angered Mr Worawat who said he then drove his motorcycle back and forth until finally stopping. He had resolved to launch an attack on the ladyboy with a sharp knife that he carried with him.
He told police he intended to cut the younger transgender woman’s neck and kill her.
Killer left murder weapon with other evidence from the killing including the victim’s shoes near a canal
After the murder, police retrieved potential evidence at the scene including Ms Apinat’s mobile phone, shoes and the murder weapon which the killer dropped into the Bang Khanak canal.
On Thursday, police brought the accused back to the scene to reenact the crime while police divers continued to work searching the pond where the body was found and the canal for evidence.
Divers found the damaged smartphone underwater after being directed to the spot by the accused man.
Trans woman met partners using a dating app
Later, investigating reporters who contacted a friend of the deceased, discovered that he had, in the past, dated many people including other transgender partners she met on an online dating application.
An autopsy of the body conducted at Ban Sang Hospital found, on Thursday, that the victim was a bioligicalman with long hair who identified as a woman known in Thailand also as a kathoey or ladyboy.
Police have asked for a definite conclusion on exactly how he died.
17-year-old sister of the victim said her brother’s chat feed included insulting messages from wives
Reporters later visited the home of the victim and spoke with 17-year-old Rasita Saengyen, the sister of the dead transgender woman.
‘My brother left the house last Sunday at 11 pm. I don’t know who he was with. But when I looked at Facebook, I found a chat message, a man invited my brother out,’ she said.
She also revealed that the chat messages on her brother’s account included insulting messages from wives of men who were in contact with him via Facebook.
She said her sibling had told her about these exchanges.
‘That man was dating my brother even though he had children and a wife,’ she revealed saying that he had been involved in an incident at home that day also. ‘I later went to sleep at a friend’s house for peace of mind. Until I discovered that a dead body had been found not far from home.’
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