US woman ‘poisoned 5 of her family & herself with cyanide’ as traces found in teapot they shared in luxury Bangkok hotel
AN AMERICAN woman allegedly poisoned five members of her family and then herself with cyanide-laced tea.
Three men and three women were found dead in luxury Bangkok hotel room on Tuesday – sparking a murder probe.
The room had been locked from the inside with scene pictures showing the teacups that held the victim’s poisoned drinks.
A post-mortem showed traces of the deadly cyanide chemical in all of the victim’s bodies – confirming they had died by poisoning.
Local media has since reported that one of the victim’s daughters – Sherine Chong, 56 – allegedly killed them over a row about debt.
She then took her own life by also drinking the poisoned tea, Khaoso reports.
The victims had traces of the fast-acting chemical in their systems and purple lips, indicating a lack of oxygen, the local hospital said.
A hotel worker at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok found the group dead in their room.
Chilling pictures showed a table covered in untouched room service food delivered before they died.
Four of the bodies were found in the living room and two in the bedroom.
Two appeared to have reached for the door but collapsed before they could make it, cops revealed.
Hotel records showed no one else had visited the room the night they died.
A seventh person outside of the group of victims booked the hotel room where the tragedy unfolded.
After speaking to her cops determined she is the sister of the one of the victims.
But she flew back to her home country on July 10 – meaning investigators have ruled her out of their enquiries.
The victims included four Vietnamese nationals and two Vietnamese- Americans.
Suspected killer Chong had both a Vietnamese and US passport and had visited Thailand five times before.
She had reportedly persuaded a couple in the group to invest in a hospital build in Japan.
They apparently lost £215,000 in the project.
Dr Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, from the local Thai hospital, said they are waiting on further results to reveal the exact level of poison in each victim’s system.
Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiwpan confirmed on Wednesday that one of the people in the group had killed the others.
Phiwpan said: “After staff brought teacups and two hot water bottles, milk and teapots… one of the six introduced cyanide.”
The three dead women were named as 46-year-old Nguyen Thi Phuong, Sherine Chong, 56, and Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, also 46.
The male victims are Tran Dinh Phu, 37, Dang Hung Van, 55, and 49-year-old Hong Thanh Pham.
They were staying at the hotel in a popular tourist area of Bangkok known for its luxury amenities.
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