MARRIAGE SHOCK; FATAL ROADSIDE ROW; SHACKLES NO BARRIER

A veteran singer in Phitsanulok says he killed a woman he fancied in a frenetic stabbing spree after he discovered she was married, a secret she withheld for years.

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Her family denies the claim, how-ever, suggesting she knocked back his request for a large loan, trigger-ing the attack.

Wang Thong police nabbed Wuttipong (no surname given) 50, a restaurant singer, for stabbing to death Ratchada, or Mod (no surname given), aged 43, also a singer whom he had pursued romantically for three years, without success.

Surveillance footage captured the moment he arrived on a motorcy-cle on June 10 and parked in front of a grocery store where the victim worked.

He enters the store, and shortly after, Ratchada runs out in terror. She flees into her two-storey wooden house near the store.

Wielding a kitchen knife he brought with him, Wuttipong pur-sues her and stabs her 31 times until she is dead. Police found her body in the lower parking area of the house.

They arrested Wuttipong fol-lowing a struggle, after he attacked passersby who approached.

He told police he had been trying to woo her for several years, but she did not reciprocate.

He was also suffering from a serious illness, which contributed to his stress and led him to commit the crime. Reports said he is receiving treatment for cancer and HIV.

After drinking to drown his sor-rows, he said he could not remem-ber what he had done. A breatha-lyser test confirmed high levels of alcohol in his system, but no sign of drugs.

The victim's husband, Tai, 50, devastated at the sight of his dead wife, cried over her body when he turned up at the scene. They had been married 10 years with a family.

The victim's son, Ton, 18, said Wuttipong had visited his mother several times to borrow large sums of money, which she refused, lead-ing to the attack.

He was unaware of any relation-ship between them and questioned whether the claims of a romantic involvement were true or merely a shield for his borrowing.