Fianc?e killer: Future in-law to blame

The man who brutally shot dead his bride-to-be and her mother in a rampage caught in a frightening surveillance camera camera video has blamed his would-be mother-in-law for the deaths.

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Chonburi police hold a press conference, announcing the capture of Tasaphol Haekla who was wanted for the brutal murder of his fiancée and her mother. Post Today photo.

Fiancée killer: Future in-law to blame

The man who brutally shot dead his bride-to-be and her mother in cold blood in a rampage caught in a frightening surveillance camera video has blamed his would-be mother-in-law for the deaths.

Tasaphol Haekla, 35, made the claims during interrogation after police arrested him in the Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap on Monday, four days after he killed Kewelin Hongthong, 28, and her mother Wimol Hongthong, 48 at a garage in Chon Buri’s Muang district.

The man arrested for shooting dead his bride-to-be has claimed that he killed her and her mother when his would-be in-law tried to stop their wedding by increasing the sin sod, or bride price, for her daughter from 500,000 baht to 2 million baht.

Tasaphol said he was actually due to marry Kewelin on Nov 28, not Aug 28 as stated in media reports, Pol Maj Gen Katcha Thatsart, commander of Chon Buri police station, told a news conference.

Tasaphol Haekla re-enacts the crime for Chonburi police this morning. Post Today photo.

The murder suspect said he had treated his fiancée well, by giving her money and funding her studies.

But he said Kewelin’s mother had told her to stop seeing him after he said he could not afford 2 million baht for her sin sod.

Tasaphol also accused Kewelin of being fond of talking to his close friend using the Line chat application; although he claimed his friend had tried to stay away from her.

He said he was jealous and had warned her about talking to his friend many times, given that they were due to marry soon, but Kewelin ignored him.

He previously intended to shoot only his mother-in-law-to-be, but said he killed Kewelin too, because of being stressed and unhappy about his lover’s behaviour. 

Footage from the garage's security camera showed the group had been talking for around 10 minutes when Tasaphol suddenly took out a gun and fired three times at Kewelin. Her mother tried to escape but was also shot three times.

He said he danced his way out of the crime scene because he felt released from the pressure he had been under, and did not know he had been caught on the security camera. He claimed he did not mean to ridicule the victims.

Adapted from stories on bangkokpost.com