Court sentences ‘Am Cyanide’ to death for premeditated murder
Bangkok court finds Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn guilty of murder in a high-profile poisoning case; two accomplices also convicted as trials for 14 other killings remain pending
A woman, dubbed by media as “Am, the cyanide killer” in a shocking high-profile murder case last year, was on Wednesday sentenced to death in the first known case of series of killings.
In a verdict reading that was more than three hours long, the Criminal Court found Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, guilty of committing the premeditated murder of her friend, Siriporn Chanwong, 32.
The court also found her ex-husband, Pol Lt-Colonel Withoon Rangsiwutthaporn, 40, and lawyer Thannicha Akesuwanwat, 36, guilty of trying to help Sararat escape punishment by hiding evidence.
The three suspects were charged by public prosecutors in a case filed by the victim’s murder in April last year. On July 18, 2023, Sararat was slapped with charges of premeditated murder, preparing to steal the assets of another person, causing death by robbery, contaminating foods with drugs or chemicals and causing death by contamination.
Withoon and Thannicha were charged with attempting to help the defendant to avoid penalties and hiding or destroying key evidence.
On Wednesday, all three suspects appeared calm when the court began reading the verdict at 9.30am. The judges ordered court officials to handcuff them before they began reading the verdict.
The lawsuit was filed on April 14, 2023, stating Sararat had a clear intention to murder Siriporn by lacing her food and drinking water with an unknown amount of potassium cyanide. The victim was poisoned when they travelled together to make merit by releasing fish at a pier in Ratchaburi’s Bang Pong district.
The lawsuit said the victim collapsed and died from cyanide poisoning, and the defendant made no effort to rescue her. Instead, the lawsuit said, the first defendant helped herself to nine items worth 154,630 baht carried by the victim. It also accused the third defendant, Thannicha, of asking Withoon to hide the stolen items with the intention to help Sararat escape legal action.
The trio had pleaded not guilty when charged on July 18 last year. Sararat was detained in the Central Women’s Correctional Institution pending trial, while the other two were released on bail.
On Wednesday, the court found all three guilty as charged and sentenced Sararat to death and slapped the other two with two years in jail.
However, the court later commuted Withoon’s sentence by a third to one year and four months and ordered him to pay a compensation of 2.4 million baht to the victim’s mother.
The mysterious death of Siriporn sparked an investigation, in which police discovered that Sararat may have killed 14 other victims. Court trials on these deaths are still pending.
