Victims of ‘cyanide killer’ may rise as police probe suspect’s bank records
Banking records of the 36-year-old woman suspected of committing multiple murders by poisoning people she borrowed money from show that up to 20 people transferred cash into her bank accounts before dying under suspicious circumstances, a police source said on Saturday.
Police investigators have so far examined the banking records of the suspect Sararat or “Am” (family name withheld) over the past three years, the source close to the investigation said.
Five- and six-digit amounts of money were transferred into the suspect’s bank accounts during the three-year period.
What drew special interest from investigators was the fact that as many as 20 people passed away shortly after transferring money to the suspect during the three-year period, the source said.
Earlier, police investigators compiled a list of 19 people they suspect may have been poisoned with cyanide by the suspect. Eighteen of them died under suspicious circumstances. One survived poisoning by the highly lethal toxin.
The suspect was arrested last Tuesday on the charge of premeditated murder. She is being held in pretrial detention.
Police said on Thursday that she would also be charged with committing premeditated murder with the intent of stealing, as well as poisoning others, and theft.
She faces the death penalty if found guilty of a single case of premeditated murder.
Crime Suppression Division deputy commander Pol Colonel Anek Taosuparp said on Saturday that the investigation into the death of Siriporn Khanwong, 33, who was killed by cyanide poisoning, was making much progress.
“We have a strong case and enough evidence against the suspect,” he said.
Siriporn died of heart failure on April 14 in Ratchaburi province. An autopsy found cyanide in her blood.
The suspect was the last person she was seen with before she died.
Anek said on Saturday that police will question a close friend of the suspect on Sunday, a hospital nurse.
The nurse was summoned as a witness to give details about the suspect’s general behaviour and her chit funds, he explained.
Many of the suspected victims put money into the suspect’s chit funds.
Investigators have found that the suspect attempted to destroy evidence that could link her to the deaths of the people she borrowed money from, the source said, without elaborating.
She was hospitalised for anxiety and amnesia many years ago, the source said. She was given medication for a mood disorder, and not for mental illness, according to the source.
