Case against Dr Supat strengthens

Evidence against police doctor Supat Laohawattana became stronger yesterday after a second witness implicated him and DNA results indicated one of the those killed in his orchard was one of his Burmese workers.

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A forensic official carefully removes one of the three skeletons found in Dr Supat’s orchard last month. TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD

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Doctor faces murder charge after skeleton DNA result

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Supat: DNA result points to worker TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD

Police will charge former police doctor Supat Laohawattana with murder after fresh DNA tests concluded that one of three human skeletons found in his Phetchaburi orchard was that of a Myanmar man who worked for him.

Wittaya Prayongphan, deputy commander of Provincial Police Region 7, said investigators would hold a meeting soon to prepare the charge against the doctor, and said they were also likely to lay charges against his third wife, Wilasa Chantarabanchorn.

The officer was commenting after Udomsak Hoonwichit, of Chulalongkorn University's faculty of medicine, yesterday confirmed that one of three skeletons exhumed from Dr Supat's orchard was that of Myanmar man Ta, formerly a worker at the orchard in Tha Yang district of Phetchaburi.

The DNA collected from the skeleton matched DNA samples collected from Ta's son and father, Dr Udomsak said.

A bullet hole was found in his skull. Police earlier quoted a witness as saying that Dr Supat had killed the worker and that he had another worker bury the man in his orchard.

The other two skeletons were also Asian men. One was of a man aged 18-21 and 158-168 centimetres tall. His skull also has a bullet hole.

The other skeleton was that of a man aged 18-24 years and 163-172 centimetres tall.

Assoc Prof Udomsak said people who suspected the skeletons were their missing relatives could seek DNA tests.

Ake Laohawattana, Dr Supat's son, yesterday wrote to the national police chief, asking police to replace investigators in his father's case.

Mr Ake said the present investigators had made unfair accusations without proof. He wants detectives from central police agencies such as the Crime Suppression Division to replace the detectives in Phetchaburi.

Provincial Police Region 7 police yesterday took Yong, another one of Dr Supat's Myanmar workers, to point to a spot in the Phetchaburi orchard where the doctor allegedly assaulted him.

Yong is a prime witness in the case as he allegedly witnessed the doctor killing Ta. He told police he fled the orchard after the alleged murder for fear he would be killed too.

Dr Supat, who worked at the Police General Hospital in Bangkok, is being detained at a jail in the province, as he has also been implicated in the disappearance of married couple Samart Noomjui and Orasa Kerdsap from the orchard three years ago.

forensic – relating to the use of scientific methods to solve  crimes or to find out why something happened เกี่ยวกับนิติวิทยาศาสตร์
remove – to take something away เอาออกจาก
skeleton – the structure of bones that supports the body of a person or an animal โครงกระดูก
orchard – an area of land where fruit trees are grown สวนหรือแปลงผลไม้
murder – the crime of intentionally killing a person ฆาตกรรม, การฆาตกรรม
charge – an official statement accusing someone of committing a crime ข้อหา
fresh – new; made or experienced recently ใหม่,  เมื่อเร็วๆนี้, สดๆ ร้อนๆ
conclude – to decide that something is true after looking at all the evidence you have สรุป
deputy – a person whose rank is immediately below that of the leader of an organisation รอง
commander – a police offer of high rank ผู้บังคับบัญชา
investigator – someone whose job is to officially find out the facts about something, especially a crime or accident  ตำรวจฝ่ายสอบสวนคดีอาชญากรรม
comment – to express an opinion แสดงความคิดเห็น
faculty – a group of departments in a college which specialize in a particular subject or group of subjects คณะ
exhume – to remove a dead body from the ground especially in order to examine how the person diedขุดศพขึ้นมา,  ขุดขึ้นจากหลุม
match – to be the same as or very similar to something else เท่าเทียมกันกับ,  เท่ากันกับ
sample – a small amount of a substance that is used for scientific or medical tests ตัวอย่างทดลอง
bullet – a small, metal object that is shot from a gun  กระสุนปืน
skull – the bones of the head  กระโหลกศีรษะ
quote – to repeat the words that someone else has said or written ยกคำพูดมา
witness – a person who sees something happen or knows about something  ผู้ที่เห็นเหตุการณ์, พยาน
bury – to put something into the ground ฝัง
suspect – to believe that something is true, especially something bad  สงสัย
relative – a member of your family ญาติพี่น้อง
replace – to put a new person or thing in the place of someone or something แทน
accusation – a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved ข้อกล่าวหา
proof – information, documents, etc. that show that something is true  การพิสูจน์
detective – a person, especially a police officer, whose job is to examine crimes and catch criminals นักสืบ; ผู้สืบสวน
suppression – stopping an activity from happening, in this case, criminal activity  การปราบปราม
spot – the particular place where someone or something is or happened  ที่, สถานที่
allegedly – claimed to have done something wrong, but not yet proven ที่ถูกกล่าวหา
assault – to attack someone violently  ทำร้ายร่างกาย
prime – main or most important ที่สำคัญที่สุด
fled (past of flee) – escaped; left an area very quickly because of a danger there หนีไป
detained – kept in a place and not allowed to leave กักตัว ควบคุมตัวหรือฝากขัง
implicate – to show or suggest that someone is involved in something illegal or morally wrong   โยงใยถึง, เกี่ยวพันกับ
disappearence – not able to be seen or found การหายไป, การสูญหาย