- Home » Expat News » Expat and Thai wife die in apparent murder suicide tragedy
Expat and Thai wife die in apparent murder suicide tragedy
| Published: | 14 Mar at 6 PM |
Want to get involved?
Become a Featured Expat and take our interview.
Become a Local Expert and contribute articles.
Get in touch today!
Become a Local Expert and contribute articles.
Get in touch today!
An Italian expat and his Thai wife have been found dead in the street outside their home in Hang Dong district, Chiang Mai.
According to local police, the Italian expat first shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself after a row about the custody and whereabouts of their eight-year old son. The couple had recently separated, and the boy had been staying in the marital home with his father over the weekend. When his mother arrived to collect him, she found he was missing and confronted her husband. Receiving no answer from him, she retrieved a gun from her car and threatened him, causing a struggle in which he took the gun and shot her. According to witnesses, after finding his wife was dead he shot himself.
Police found the gun and spent bullets near the bodies and later found the couple’s eight year old son in a friend’s house some distance away. He had not witnessed the tragedy and is being taken care of by his friend’s parents. According to expat friends and neighbours of the couple, a messy divorce was pending, but the couple were popular and well-known as Auntie Jit and Uncle Luka in the Hang Dong expat community, especially by those living nearby in the Koolpunt housing village. The tragedy was reported on Facebook, along with graphic photos of the deceased, causing community concern over the son’s accessing the page.
The fate of the child is unclear at present, as is his mother’s family are apparently not resident in Chiang Mai. Late last week, a Buddhist ceremony was held by friends of the couple, with nine monks in attendance and the required white thread placed around the outside of the house to get rid of unwanted ghosts and spirits lingering around the place where the tragedy happened.
Although Thai law requires a permit to be issued before a gun can be bought, in reality there are a huge number of illegal guns on the streets. Recently, Thailand was noted as being one of the most dangerous countries for expats, with motoring accidents as well as gun ownership accounting for many deaths.
According to local police, the Italian expat first shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself after a row about the custody and whereabouts of their eight-year old son. The couple had recently separated, and the boy had been staying in the marital home with his father over the weekend. When his mother arrived to collect him, she found he was missing and confronted her husband. Receiving no answer from him, she retrieved a gun from her car and threatened him, causing a struggle in which he took the gun and shot her. According to witnesses, after finding his wife was dead he shot himself.
Police found the gun and spent bullets near the bodies and later found the couple’s eight year old son in a friend’s house some distance away. He had not witnessed the tragedy and is being taken care of by his friend’s parents. According to expat friends and neighbours of the couple, a messy divorce was pending, but the couple were popular and well-known as Auntie Jit and Uncle Luka in the Hang Dong expat community, especially by those living nearby in the Koolpunt housing village. The tragedy was reported on Facebook, along with graphic photos of the deceased, causing community concern over the son’s accessing the page.
The fate of the child is unclear at present, as is his mother’s family are apparently not resident in Chiang Mai. Late last week, a Buddhist ceremony was held by friends of the couple, with nine monks in attendance and the required white thread placed around the outside of the house to get rid of unwanted ghosts and spirits lingering around the place where the tragedy happened.
Although Thai law requires a permit to be issued before a gun can be bought, in reality there are a huge number of illegal guns on the streets. Recently, Thailand was noted as being one of the most dangerous countries for expats, with motoring accidents as well as gun ownership accounting for many deaths.
Comments » No published comments just yet for this article...
Feel free to have your say on this item. Go on... be the first!
