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CCTV FOOTAGE, HAIR STRANDS AND A 'HISTORY OF VIOLENCE' CONVINCED COPS THEY HAD THEIR WOMAN

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau were shocked when they learned the truth behind the death of a 13-year-old student.

The body of Atthasit "Nong Bird" Leelertyuth was found by housekeeping staff on the stairs of a fire exit between the third and fourth floors of Charoen Complex, off Sri Nakarin Road in Prawet district, at about 11.30am on July 13.

Forensic pathology findings suggested Atthasit had died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.

Police initially thought he may have died in an accident or following a fight with friends.

After three days of investigations, the prime suspect was none other than the victim's own grandmother, Somjit Jampadee, whom he lived with _ and who had been charged with murder before.

Police initially identified three teenagers who entered the building on the evening of July 12 as potential suspects.

However, there was no evidence found to point to a conflict between the victim and the other teens.


"The investigators were initially mistaken in thinking a gang feud was behind the killing," said Pol Lt Col Niran Pitakard, deputy superintendent at the Metropolitan Police Bureau responsible for the investigation. "However, they later concluded that the killer must be someone living in the building."

One factor that led them to this conclusion was that Atthasit was not wearing shoes when his body was found. Mrs Somjit, 55, had told investigators that Atthasit had gone out the night before his body was found and was wearing sandals when he left.

Police then gathered photographs, surveillance camera footage and other pertinent evidence for their investigation,

Officers worked to identify everyone who entered and left the building between July 12 and 16.

"I noticed from the picture of the victim's body that there was a long strain of hair on his neck," Pol Lt Col Niran said. "This told me that the murderer was probably a woman."

Police also presumed that the killer had to live on the fourth floor of the building or higher, because the body would have been dragged down the stairs rather than up them.

The forensic examination concluded that the body must have been dragged or carried to the place it was found because there was no dirt on the victim's feet.

"The evidence was just piling up against [Mrs Somjit] at this point," Pol Lt Col Niran said.

While questioning Mrs Somjit, police grew more confident that they had found Atthasit's killer.

"She sounded aggressive when asked about her relationship with her grandson," Pol Lt Col Niran said.

"My hunch told me she might well be the killer, given the fact that she murdered her husband before," he alleged.

Mrs Somjit was charged in the 1993 shooting death of her husband, but the charge was later dropped.

The police then made Mrs Somjit their prime suspect.

"Her testimony during the interrogation was inconsistent with what was recorded on the building's closed-circuit camera footage," Pol Lt Col Niran said.

She claimed that at the estimated time of her grandson's death, at around 9-10pm, she was sitting downstairs talking with a security guard. But the surveillance camera footage showed the security guard sitting alone during that time.

She said the victim ran out of the room wearing his sandals and pyjamas. But no sandals were found at the crime scene.

The video footage also showed that at around midnight before the victim's body was found in the morning, Mrs Somjit came down to the first floor with a large yellow plastic bag.

She told police that that it contained her rubbish but she later allegedly confessed that it held a bedsheet stained with her grandson's blood.

"We are now more than certain that her testimony equates to nothing but lies," Pol Lt Col Niran said.

Finally, Mrs Somjit confessed, police said.

"I asked her how she felt at the victim's funeral when family members repeatedly spoke of their hopes that the police would catch the killer when the killer is standing right in front of their faces," Pol Lt Col Niran said. "I told her all she had to do was confess."

Police said she told them that she was subjected to constant physical abuse by her grandson.

They said she confessed to hitting him in the head with a large piece of wood when he threatened her with a knife.

"With this in mind, having compared Mrs Somjit with all the other suspects, she had the strongest motive," Pol Lt Col Niran said.

"One thing the police learned from this case was that if we had relied too much on technology, we could have found ourselves overwhelmed and misdirected by unprocessed information.

"Crime investigations must be led by the human mind. Technology should facilitate our work, not lead it."'