Fruit Merchant Sprays More Than Just Tomato Juice

Photo Courtesy of Thairath

CHIANG RAI – A divorced fruit merchant, unable to overcome feelings of jealousy, tracked down his ex-wife and her new husband while they were shopping at the hill tribe’s market. Armed with a 9 mm, he waited opportunistically in a near by car park, for the chance to kill them.

The couple were shot dead on the way back to their vehicle, while the husband’s nephew was severely injured in the ambush. After the shooting, the culprit went home, wrote a suicide note, and put the gun to himself (picture in right hand corner).

The double homicide was unraveled at 13.30PM by a police Lieutenant Colonel, Deja Chaiaksorn who was stationed in Chiang Rai. He received a report that there was a shooting near the entrance road to KunKorn Waterfall.

At the entrance, a bronze Isuzu pick-up truck, plate number 6059 Chiang Rai, was spotted on the side of the road. Two bodies stained in blood were found near the vehicle. The male victim, Mr. Panyakorn Panya, 35 yrs old, was shot in the head and upper body. Nearby, the wife, Mrs. Nippaporn Panya, 33 yrs old, was shot on the right side of her face.

Forensic teams found eight bullet shells belonging to a 9 mm. at the crime scene.
The other victim, Mr. Charin Chaipanya, 19 yrs old, a nephew of the male victim, was shot in the left shoulder and faced a critical condition at Chiang Rai Phra Cha Nu Klor Hospital. Surgeons managed to remove the bullet from his body and is now in a stable condition.

The fruit merchant turned jealous-wife-killer, has since been identified as Banjong Norgaew, 39 yrs old. It is believed that after the shootings took place, he drove his blue Mitsubishi pick-up truck, plate number 3994 Pa Yao, to a convenient store and bought a bottle of beer. He later returned home and wrote a suicide note which said, “This home was built as a dream…Now it ends with a dream. – Banjong.” After that, he turned the same handgun used to commit the murders, on himself, firing three shots into his own chest and heart.

From police inquiries, it was discovered that the victims, including the culprit, were fruit and vegetable merchants at the Chok Jaroen market in Chiang Rai. Mr. Banjong Norgaew, who appeared to be well-off financially, was an ex-husband to Mrs. Nippaporn Panya. They lived together with two other children and divorced a year before the murders took place.

After separating, they each started new families, but Nippaporn married Mr. Panyakorn, a fruit merchant only a few stalls away in the same market.

It is believed that Mr. Banjong had previously threatened to kill the couple several times – and that jealousy had played a strong role in the killings.

Before the incident, Panyakorn, Nippaporn, and Charin (the nephew), drove out to a three-way intersection near the entrance to Kunkorn Waterfall, to buy tomatoes that the hill tribe bring down to sell from the mountains. The culprit somehow knew that the couple were there. He drove out and saw his ex-wife standing with her new husband next to their pick-up truck. He could not face what he saw. He drew his weapon. And the red stained gravel he left behind was no tomato juice.

In Courtesy of Thairath

Writer: Adrian Tse & Chet Chetchotisak