The Thonburi Criminal Court yesterday sentenced Apichai "Ice Metal Casket" Ongwisit, to life in prison after he was found guilty of killing a woman and concealing her body last year.
Apichai: Also guilty of torture
The case -- the fourth against him -- involved the death of 22-year-old Warinthorn "Kuk-kik" Chaiyachet, whose body was found wrapped in plastic sheeting and buried on his property in Bangkok's Bang Khae district in January last year.
Apichai was accused of detaining Warinthorn at his house, torturing and killing her and burying her body to conceal the crime in August 2019.
He confessed to concealing the body but denied torturing her. He also claimed he assaulted and killed the victim in a fit of temper.
In its ruling, the court said the defendant attacked Warinthorn with an iron rod, forced her into a small metal casket -- 40cm long, 70cm wide and 45cm tall -- and secured it with a lock.
Even though an autopsy could not determine the cause of death, the defendant could have assumed from his actions that it could lead to her death, the court said.
The court found him guilty of premeditated murder and illegal detention causing death. And by forcing the victim into the small metal casket, he was also found guilty of committing torture.
The court also ordered Apichai to pay compensation amounting to 2.9 million baht to the victim's mother and child, and said the sentence in this case would be added to the sentences handed down in the three previous cases.
Earlier this week he was sentenced to 25 years in jail and told to pay a fine of 750,000 baht for the possession of illegal drugs. The indictment said that on Jan 1–14, 2020, Apichai had in his possession 2,200 methamphetamine pills and a bag containing 267.869 grammes of methamphetamine flakes with the intent to sell.
On Dec 30, the Thonburi Criminal Court sentenced him to 11 years and four months in prison for rape involving the use of a firearm. The court heard that on the night of Dec 23, 2019, he used a handgun to force a woman to go his house where he raped her.
In March last year he was sentenced to 10 years and five months for illegal possession of narcotics and firearms.
