A Thai woman accused of killing 14 people to feed her gambling addiction has been sentenced to death in her first murder trial. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Serial killer convicted

A gambling addict who is alleged to be one of the worst serial killers in Thailand’s history has been convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a friend.

Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, is accused of luring 15 people to take capsules poisoned with cyanide, only one of whom survived. She was given the sentence after being found guilty during the first of her 14 murder trials.

if they asked her for their money back, she started killing them”

Sararat is accused of 80 offenses in total, with her significant gambling debts alleged to be a motivating factor. “She asked people she knows for money because she has a lot of credit card debt… and if they asked her for their money back, she started killing them,” said Deputy National Police Chief Surachate Hakparn.

Cyanide capsules

After meeting up with her close friend Siriporn Khanwong near Bangkok to release fish into the Mae Klong River for a Buddhist ritual last year, Randsiwuthaporn gave her the supposed “herb capsule.”

investigators were able to link the crime to other cyanide poisonings over almost a decade

Siriporn died quickly after taking the capsule, and cyanide was later detected in her body. After arresting Sararat, investigators were able to link the crime to other cyanide poisonings over almost a decade, going back to 2015.

Police said Sararat would borrow money from her victims to fund her online gambling addiction, with the most being over 300,000 baht ($8,660). After exhausting her lines of credit, she would murder her victims, stealing additional valuables after their deaths.

Sararat’s ex-husband Witoon Rangsiwuthaporn, once a lieutenant-colonel in the Thai police, and her former lawyer Thanicha Eksuwanwat were also both sentenced for complicity in the killing of Siriporn, receiving 16 months and two years in prison, respectively. Thanicha had pressed Witoon to destroy evidence linking Sararat to the murder.

Both had also pleaded not guilty to hiding evidence. Vitoon turned himself into police earlier in the year, and is also suspected of being complicit in one of the other murders, helping Sararat to murder an ex-boyfriend, Suthisak Poonkwan.

Death sentence

Meanwhile, Siriporn’s mother, who attended the sentencing, approved of the judge’s decision.
“The court’s decision is just,” Tongpin Kiatchanasiri said after the death sentence was passed. “I want to tell my daughter that I miss her deeply and justice has been done for her today.”

In addition to the death sentence, Sararat will also be required to pay Siriporn’s family 2m baht ($57,667) in compensation.

only one execution has taken place since 2009, which was administered by lethal injection

Thailand reintroduced the death penalty in 2018, and Thai courts have handed down death sentences on several occasions since. However, only one execution has taken place since 2009, which was administered by lethal injection, according to human rights groups.

Sararat will still have to undergo the remaining 13 murder trials. The cases will be submitted by the national police agency to prosecutors next week.