A Ninth Grader and a Pen Gun leaves Unsolved Murder

Photo Courtesy of Thairath Newspaper

BANGKOK - Marood Rakissara, a 14 yr old attending ninth grade at Janpradittharam High School was shot dead today; his father can be seen in the photo hasting towards his body. Police have found an important piece of evidence: a pen gun, discovered near the scene of the crime.

The ninth grader was discovered at 18.00 when Lieutenant Srongsak Petprakorp received a call at Bang Koon Tian station. He and emergency volunteers set off to the crime scene in Soi Teud Thai 67, Chumchon Pattana 7, Phasi Charoen district.

The murder took place deep in a forest about two kilometers from the front of the Soi. It was there, that the officers found the victim lying dead in a school uniform. The young victim sustained an exit wound to the left of his chest.

After the interrogation of the victim’s friends, it was found that before the killing took place, the victim and two friends paid a visit to another friend’s house situated in the Soi.

On the way back, the victim had stopped to urinate in a side bush where he was approached by two passing motorcycles. The first was a pink and white Yamaha Phino with two people on it; the driver was wearing a helmet and a dark colored jacket – the man sitting on the rear is said to have had a long mullet. The second bike was a dark blue Honda Sonic, with a single driver, also wearing a dark colored jacket.

When the two bikes reached the spot where Marood, the victim, was urinating, the man with the mullet drew a gun without warning. The victim was fiercely gunned down in close proximity, instantly collapsing. The two bikes left the Soi immediately after the killing.

The victim’s friends further stated that two or three days before the crime took place, their group started a fight with a group of kids from a school near the Tha Pra intersection.

While the kids from the other school boarded a public bus, the victim and his friends chased them and whipped them with belts. The victim’s friends suggested that this could be a motive for the killing of their friend.

The police, however, are not convinced. They suspect the victim had created conflict with people near the neighborhood of the murder, or that the killer is among the victims group of friends. The pen gun remains a mystery and has not yet been linked to the killing.

Note:

Soi (Thai: ซอย) is the term used in Thailand for a side-street branching off a major street (Thanon, Thai:ถนน).

Writer: Adrian Tse & Chet Chetchotisak