CHONBURI: Two suspects are being questioned over the deaths of five people in Chonburi, while police pursue two alleged accomplices believed to have been involved in the killing of a Thai family.
The five victims were discovered in two separate incidents and include a pair of Russian siblings and a Thai family of three.
The suspects allegedly posed as police officers in both cases, with the motive for the killings believed to be the theft of the victims' vehicles.
One of the main suspects had been released from prison two months earlier, and investigators are reviewing his background for links to other offences.
The investigation expanded after officers found the bodies of two Russian siblings buried together in a wooded area of Huai Yai subdistrict. Police identified the pair as Diana Nazimova, 22, and her 17-year-old brother, Roman Nazimova.
Pol Lt Gen Chatchai Surachetphong, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 2, said several parts of the suspects' statements were consistent with physical evidence and the direction of the investigation.
Police said four people were believed to have been involved across the two cases. Two suspects, identified by sources as Pong and Thong, were questioned, while officers were searching for two others. Authorities believed the remaining suspects were still in the area and under close surveillance.
According to Thong's statement, he and Pong encountered the Russian siblings by chance while the pair were stopped beside a road.
The suspects allegedly pretended to be police officers conducting a search before restraining the victims and taking them to a wooded location. Investigators said the apparent motive was to steal their motorcycle.
Initial examinations found that the male victim had suffered gunshot injuries, while the female victim showed signs of physical assault. Police reported no preliminary evidence of sexual assault.
The motorcycle was allegedly hidden and later dismantled. According to the statements, attempts were made to sell some of its parts, but the components were eventually buried after the disappearance attracted public attention.
The two suspects gave differing accounts of parts of the incident. Thong alleged that Pong was principally responsible for the violence, while Pong reportedly maintained that the male victim resisted and that the female victim was killed during a struggle. These accounts remain allegations under investigation.
Questioning also linked the suspects to the earlier disappearance of a Thai couple and their 18-year-old daughter in mid-June.
A relative reported Wichian, 53, Chantana, 50, and Nichapha, 18, missing to Huai Yai police on June 27 after losing contact with them. Their bodies were later found buried in a coconut plantation near the location where the Russian siblings were discovered.
Thong reportedly told investigators that four people — himself, Pong, Ball and another associate — went to the family's home late at night.
The group allegedly posed as police officers, restrained the parents and detained their daughter when she returned from a convenience store. The three were then taken away in the family's pickup truck.
Statements attributed to the suspects alleged that the family was killed before their pickup truck and mobile phones were taken. Investigators were also told that the vehicle was intended for use in transporting illegal drugs, although this claim has not been independently established.
Pong reportedly admitted involvement in the case and named Ball and Fluke as the other alleged participants. Police have not disclosed in the two reports whether the remaining suspects have been formally charged.
Police said Pong, regarded as the principal suspect, had been released from prison about two months before the latest investigation.
Investigators are reviewing his background and checking whether the suspects may be connected to other offences after the two cases produced a combined death toll of five.
Thong reportedly argued that he had acted under duress because he feared Pong might harm his family. Police are continuing to compare the suspects' accounts with forensic evidence and other findings as the search for the remaining two alleged accomplices continues. - The Nation/ANN
