DR SUPOJ JAMSUWAN, right,shows documents releting to the third autopsy carried out on Hangthong Thammawattana, which concluded that he committed suicide.

The latest findings could help Hangthong’s younger brother Noppadol avoid jail – if the Criminal Court accepts them.

Noppadol was arrested in 2003 for allegedly conspiring to murder his elder brother after the second autopsy concluded that Hangthong was killed, rather than shot himself.

Noppadol was permitted to conduct a third autopsy for his defence.

The wealthy Thammawattana family, which owned Yingcharoen market and large tracts of land, has been split by an infamous feud. Numerous other family members were killed or disappeared prior to Hangthong’s death in 1999.

Noppadol submitted the third autopsy results, which gave Hangthong’s cause of death as “suicide”, to the Criminal Court yesterday. He was accompanied by a forensic expert from Chulalongkorn Hospital.

“I have never been worried because I have known all along that I am innocent,” Noppadol said.

He vowed to lodge a complaint with the Medical Council against Khunying Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand for lacking ethics. He also planned to sue her if he is acquitted.

Pornthip has said publicly that she believed Hangthong was killed.

She stepped into the case after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered a reinvestigation into Hangthong’s death.

The MP was found dead at Noppadol’s mansion with a gunshot wound to his head. Many people believed he was killed but the first autopsy branded his death as self-inflicted.

Pornthip recommended that Scottish pathologist Adrian Linacre, a senior lecturer in forensic biology at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, conduct the second autopsy.

The Criminal Court has scheduled the next hearing on the case for February 28.

Dr Supoj Jamsuwan, deputy head of Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Forensic Medicine, accompanied Noppadol to the court. He said respected experts from Chulalongkorn, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Mahidol universities had jointly conducted the third autopsy.

“Some of them are those who have taught Khunying Pornthip,” Supoj said. Without mentioning anyone by name, he said someone viewed Thailand’s forensic science as lacking standards and had tried to set the standards herself.

Supoj said the third autopsy found the two fractures to Hangthong’s skull occurred around the same time because of the impact of a canister bullet, which generates a force thousands of times greater than a normal bullet.

The second autopsy suggested Hangthong suffered a blow to the head, which caused the first fracture, and that he was then shot, which caused the second fracture.

The third autopsy found that the bullet was fired horizontally from point-blank range. There was no trace of other injuries. Checks on the MP’s hair allegedly showed no trace that he was unconscious before the shooting.

Pornthip said yesterday that she was not worried about Noppadol’s move or the latest autopsy findings. “Forensic science is not just about examinations of a body; it also involves factors such as bloodstains and how the blood spurts,” she said.

She said it would be better to clarify information in court than trying to hurl accusations outside the courtroom. “I believe in the integrity of the court and the Medical Council. I am confident that I will receive justice,” she said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya said he could not comment on the findings. “It depends on the court’s judgement and on whom the court believes,” he said.