Gambling Addict Grandson Kills 87-year-old Grandfather

Photo Courtesy of Khaosod

UDONTHANI – A grandson was arrested for the ruthless head bashing, pillow suffocating, and throat slitting murder of his 87-year-old grandfather.

The demented teen was angry after his grandfather refused to pay 500 baht to clear his soccer gambling debt and further lectured him on the downfalls of gambling. The culprit reached for a wooden bat and clubbed his grandfather over the head, got out a knife and sliced open his throat. He stole around 1,000 baht cash and fled.

At 11.30am on August 30th, Police Colonel Chawit Srichan led his team consisting of 50 investigative officers to arrest Mr. Pannalit A Khodmani, 19-years-old, charging him with theft and the murder of his own grandfather. Over 200 civilians gathered together and cursed the culprit to hell as he was being taken away (Photo above).

Before the incident, Pannalit had driven a red Yamaha motorbike to the front of the house to ask his grandfather for 500 baht cash. His grandfather refused to give the money and further lectured him about how bad gambling is. This made Pannalit furious. He went into the house, picked up a wooden bat and hit the old man’s head three times. After that, he tried to suffocate the victim with a pillow until he stopped moving and stopped breathing. The culprit walked into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, stabbing it hard into the old man’s head before running the blade through his throat.

Pannalit then threw the pillow in a nearby river and washed off the blood stains on his clothes, knife and bat. He stole 1,260 baht from the victim’s shirt pocket, as well as an ATM bank card before escaping on his motorbike to the front of Santisuk market. He then hopped onto a local minibus and got off at Udonthani train station and headed for Petchabun province. There, he approached a local restaurant called Phuang Petch and applied for a job as a waiter. Police tracked the bastard down to the restaurant and took him into custody.

Police officers took Pannalit to his grandfather’s corpse and made him apologize on his hands and knees. The villagers and his own relatives are extremely shocked and raged by the incident and have all openly cursed him to hell. Police had to set up fences to prevent villagers from hitting the culprit.

Colonel Chawit revealed that the culprit took the ATM card to the cash machine but couldn’t get the money out because he had forgotten the password. There were witnesses who saw the culprit on his motorbike before and after the murder. Police tracked him down to the restaurant in Petchabun and arrested him along with the murder weapon, ATM card, and one gambling voucher for an international soccer match.

Mrs. Saphaporn Farmer, 34-years-old, the culprit’s aunt, said that the old man had been the only one taking care of Pannalit since birth. She said Pannalit had always had a thing for stealing and often stole family belongings in the household. He was scolded many times but continued his habits. The old man supported him through school but Pannalit refused to study and ended up quitting in year 11. On many other occasions before the incident, the culprit had stolen his grandfather’s ATM card and withdrawn money to gamble in soccer matches. Every time he lost the money, he would go back to the old man and try to force him to pay his debts.

Police are charging Pannalit with murder and theft and will be sending him to a good old jail cell.

Courtesy of Khaosod

Writer: Adrian Tse & Chet Chetchotisak