A police officer - Pol Lt Rachan Phanwong, 37 - and three family members were found shot dead yesterday by a main road in Pathum Thani. The only survivor, a sixyearold daughter, is under intensive care with serious injuries.
The multiple murders could have been motivated by revenge for an extramarital affair involving Rachan, said Provincial Police Bureau 1 commander Pol Lt General Krissada Phankhongchuen.
Police believe two handguns were used in the heist by people the family knew well, he added.
The four victims were found lying in and around a family SUV parked at the 6465 km markers of an Outer Ringroad lane at around 6 am yesterday.
Rachan's body, with a single gunshot wound to his left temple, lay 10 metres from the vehicle. His wife, Nawarat, 33, shot in the left eye, was in a wood 50 metres away.
Fiveyearold Yanisa, shot in the neck, died in a car seat and Jirawut, 4, shot in the left eyebrow, was found behind a front seat. Rawissara, 6, is under intensive care at a hospital receiving treatment for gunshot wounds to her left shoulder and left arm. She is under police protection as the only known eyewitness to the murders.
Rachan started his career as a noncom and last served at Bang Bua Thong station in Nonthaburi. Three months ago he was suspended from the service for alleged attempted murder firing his handgun at a person after using his car to chase and ram a group.
Pathum Thani police chief Pol MajGeneral Methee Kasalasang said he learned that Rachan was having affairs with many women, one of whom was reportedly a relative of a country singer. Police are looking for valuables carried in the vehicle while he was driving back from the North to Bangkok.
Police sources said the singer's relative was a wealthy and highly possessive woman. She had frequently given Rachan valuables and the SUV he was using.
Initial crime scene investigation indicates Rachan stopped the SUV to talk with somebody he knew and he was shot. His wife ran for her life but was also shot dead. The killers then turned back to the vehicle and shot the three children, but the eldest survived.
