Vietnamese poisoner named in Bangkok 5-star hotel murders, suicide
Police suspect a 56-year-old Vietnamese woman with US citizenship of using a lethal mixture of cyanide and tea topoison five compatriots when they met at a luxury hotel inBangkok to resolve a financial dispute.
Pol Maj Gen Nopasilp Poonsawat, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, on Wednesday identified the suspect as Vietnam-born Sherine Chong.
Hotel staff said she had been waiting, alone in room 502 on the fifth floor of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, when her alleged victims arrived on Monday.
She had earlier ordered food and tea from room service. She refused the room attendant’s offer to brew the tea for her in the room, saying she would prepare it herself.
Security camera recordings showed the five other Vietnamese arriving at the room with their luggage. From 2.17pm on Monday, no one had left the room. On Tuesday eveninga maid found their bodies in the room.
Chong was among them.
Pol Maj Gen Nopasilp said the suspect had invited the other five people to invest in construction projects. They included a couple who reportedly invested the equivalent of 10 million baht in a hospital project in Japan. When there was no progress in the projects, they had taken legal action.
The six were scheduled to meet in court in two weeks. Chong invited the five to meet for out-of-court negotiations. They initially planned to go to Japan, but could not meet there because of visa issues. So, they turned to Bangkok.
They arrived in Bangkok at different times and stayed in different rooms at the 5-star hotel, which is in the city’s commercial and diplomatic district.
The five Vietnamese had checked out at noon on Monday, but Chong kept room 502 and invited them back for another round of talks. She had ordered food and tea for everyone.
Pol Maj Gen Nopasilp said cyanide residue was found in the six used teacups found in the hotel room. Police were tracking down the source of the poison.
Police forensic science chief Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiewphan said cyanide was also found in tea bags collected from the room.
Chong’s alleged victims were identified as Dang Hung Van, 55; Tran Dinh Phu, 37; Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47; and a couple: Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46; and Pham Hong Thanh, 49.
An initial check on blood samples from the six bodies, conducted by the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, confirmed cyanide as the cause of death.
The poison cut off the supply of oxygen to the cells of their hearts and neural systems, said Assoc Prof Dr Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, head of the forensics department at the faculty.
“Another check will be carried out to determine how much cyanide was used and whether other kinds of poison were also used,” Dr Kornkiat said, adding that CT scans of the six bodies found no signs of injuries or struggle.
Pol Maj Gen Nopasilp said officers are investigating whether the cyanide was smuggled into the country or acquired locally.
Guide questioned
In a related development, police at the Lumphini station were questioning Phan Ngoc Vu, 35, who served as a guide for the group. He told reporters he knew only one of the six people previously, having met them last year. He refused to answer any other questions.
However, a source familiar with the investigation said Mr Vu told investigators that he had been asked by Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan to buy medicine worth about 11,000 baht, between July 3 and July 5. He said he was told to get “Snake Brand No 7”, reportedly a tonic popular with Vietnamese people and available at shops in the Lat Krabang area of Bangkok.
The guide reportedly told police he later contacted a person named “Tiger” to liaise with Ms Lan and deliver the medicine to the hotel. Investigators are examining CCTV video to see if they can locate the man.
Investigators also learned that Ms Lan’s husband, who was a businessman, had phoned the guide and asked him to exchange money for his wife’s sister, who later returned to Vietnam on July 10.
Mr Vu exchanged 70 million dong for about 90,000 baht and brought the money to Ms Lan’s sister, who was seen with Dang Hung Van, one of the six people who later died. After receiving the money, Ms Lan’s sister returned to Danang the following day, according to the source.
Chong: Chief suspect in the poisonings
