CHON BURI: -- A Thai woman and her Italian former husband were arrested yesterday for planning the murder of a retired German policeman in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district, and police are hunting for a Frenchman alleged to have acted as the gunman.
The woman, Rungnapa Sri-det, 32, was also previously married to the victim, 63-year-old Heinrich Hermann Friedrich, who was gunned down in front of his house on Monday.
Rungnapa reportedly confessed to police shortly after the murder that she and her ex-husband Fernando Nardini, 49, had planned the murder for a French gunman and two Thai men to carry out.
The motive was reportedly Rungnapa's bid to take possession of a Bt5-million house that Friedrich had bought in her name. She had filed a lawsuit to take possession of the house following their separation two years ago.
Police arrested Rungnapa and Nardini at 00.10am yesterday and charged them with murdering Friedrich and possessing an unlicensed gun, said Chon Buri police deputy commander Colonel Pairat Supasawat, who headed the investigation.
After being questioned separately for six hours, Rungnapa and Nardini both confessed that they were involved in the murder and that a French gunman, identified only as Marc, had shot Friedrich, he said.
Police raided Marc's condominium in Pattaya yesterday but found he had already gone. A witness said he had moved out in a hurry on Wednesday evening.
Nardini reportedly told police that he had planned the murder and offered Marc, a 53-year-old fugitive criminal, Bt1 million to carry it out.
-- The Nation 2007-06-30
