'Masterminds' plead not guilty to family murder

Thanakorn Somboonchai and Phongphan Suppharassamee pleaded not guilty to the offences of masterminding the murders of four members of the Pathumwassana family and a housemaid. Both suspects were arrested at their Chiang Mai homes on Thursday.

Police earlier arrested two other men, Wanchai Onpan and Parithas Numnoi, for their part in the alleged killings. Wanchai protested his innocence while Parithas confessed to the crimes, police said. But both refused to say who hired them to do it, at the victims' luxury home on the night of April 4.

Police said two other assailants who were later arrested - Tharayuth Saensuk and Amnart Pharadornphithak - had implicated Thanakorn and Phongphan as the masterminds.

According to police sources, both Thanakorn and Phongphan had invested in a number of businesses jointly with Kanokkarn Pathumwassana, the wife and mother of two adult children. Those businesses later incurred losses, and Thanakorn and Phongphan were seeking damages from Kanokkarn through a court case.

The sources said Thanakorn and Phongphan became angry with Kanokkarn after learning that she was planning to operate those businesses on her own. Fourteen million baht owed by the alleged masterminds to Kanonkarn was also a motive in the murder, the sources added.