AMNAT CHAROEN — A 42-year-old man was arrested Sunday morning after allegedly beheading his 71-year-old mother with a machete and carrying her severed head to a nearby rice field before wandering through his village drenched in blood.
Authorities took Mongkol Inthanon into custody at approximately 8:30 a.m. in the village of Ban Non Sung after terrified residents reported seeing him sitting on a roadside with his face and body covered in gore. The victim, identified as Sroi Inthanon, was found decapitated inside the family home in the Senangkhanikhom District.
Witness Lamyai Sangsawee, 57, recounted the chilling encounter, stating she initially believed the suspect had been injured in an accident. She told reporters she asked him who had attacked him, but he responded only with a menacing, wild-eyed stare. Sensing immediate danger, she fled the scene to alert the village headman and expressed concern for the victim’s safety, noting the suspect had recently returned from a rehabilitation center.
Village headman Chanchan Sangkharuek said he issued an emergency warning over the community’s public address system before leading a group of neighbors to the residence. After gathering enough people to safely enter the house, the group discovered the mother’s body. The village headman immediately notified law enforcement to take the suspect into custody.
Investigators from the Senangkhanikhom Police Station recovered the victim’s head in a rice field adjacent to the house. Pol. Col. Suwicha Boonjim, the district police chief, confirmed that forensic teams have collected the murder weapon and DNA samples for further analysis.
Mongkol has been charged with intentional murder. While the suspect has a prior history of rehabilitation, police stated they are currently awaiting toxicological results to determine if any substances were in his system at the time of the slaying as they move forward with the legal proceedings.