Former deputy minister gets death penalty

[Coss]

The Appeals Court on Friday sentenced a former deputy minister of commerce to death, instead of life imprisonment as earlier imposed, for the murder of a judge's brother.

The death penalty went to Banyin Tangpakorn, 58, who was earlier found guilty of murdering Veerachai Sakuntaprasert, the elder brother of judge Panida Sakuntaprasert who handled his share theft case, on Feb 4, 2020.

The court of first instance in December 2020 handed down life imprisonment to Banyin for his confession in the murder case. The murder followed the abduction of Veerachai, which was intended to influence the judge to take side with Banyin.

The latest ruling by the Appeals Court responded to Judge Panida's petition that Banyin and other convicts in the same case confessed because they had no other choices due to strong evidence against them...

"Police later suspected the crash might not have been an accident. They found the vehicle was travelling at 30 kilometres per hour when the crash occurred. An autopsy showed Chuwong sustained injuries inconsistent with the crash such as broken ribs and ligature marks on the neck."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2338013/former-deputy-minister-gets-death-penalty