PHETCHABURI — A 64-year-old Swedish man was found shot dead at his Cha-am home on Monday morning.
The man, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was found lying on his back in the kitchen of the house in tambon Rai Mai Pattana of Cha-am district, Pol Lt Natcharee Siriwarin, an investigator at Cha-am police station, said.
Pol Lt Natcharee said the Swede, a former police dog handler, was shot in the stomach and right elbow. He had been dead for about 24 hours. The house is part of Kennel Scandinavia - a property providing boarding facilities for dogs, cats and birds, and also has a dog training centre.
Police found a spent cartridge from a shotgun behind the house and a bullet hole in the driver’s door of a Toyota Hilux parked in front of the house.
Nearby residents said they heard a loud bang at the place about 9am on Sunday and two more shortly after, but did not suspect anything was wrong.
Paitoon Katesang, 46, an animal caretaker at Kennel Scandinavia, said he found the Swede’s body on the kitchen floor about 8.30am on Monday and called police.
Pol Col Pakin Siwamethakul, superintendent of Cha-am police station, said the dead man had lived in Cha-am and operated the pet business for several years.
He said it appeared his attackers shot at him when he was using a laptop computer inside the house. He had tried to escape through the kitchen window, but was followed and killed.
Police initially assumed the murder was generated by a personal conflict, because the deceased man had often quarrelled with local youths when he was drunk.
He also had a conflict with his former wife, a Thai, and a court case in which he was accused of killing a cow owned by a local family in a car accident, Pol Col Pakin said.