Convicted poisoner Sararat "Aem Cyanide" Rangsiwuthaporn has been acquitted on one of the many murder charges brought against her.
In her fifth murder trial, the Criminal Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to prove she poisoned a vegetable vendor with cyanide.
Sararat, 39, had been charged with the premeditated murder of Rosjarin “Phi Noi” Nilnoi, a vegetable vendor. The ruling was delivered on Tuesday morning at the Criminal Court in Bangkok.
Prosecutors charged Sararat with mixing cyanide into a salad given to Rosjarin with the intention to kill her, motivated by a 60,000-baht debt.
Ms Sararat denied the charges.
In its judgement, the court said the case was reopened after reports emerged in March 2023 linking Sararat to a series of suspected cyanide poisonings. Rosjarin's husband subsequently became suspicious that his wife's death in 2022 may also have been connected and filed a complaint accusing Sararat of deliberately poisoning her.
During the trial, the prosecution called the physician who treated the victim. The doctor testified that the victim's blood showed severe metabolic acidosis, a condition that could result from either severe infection or poisoning.
However, the witness could not confirm that cyanide was the poison involved, identify what toxic substance had entered the victim's body, or determine how it had been administered.
The court ruled that the medical evidence was insufficient to establish that the victim had been poisoned with cyanide by the defendant.
The court also questioned the reliability of testimony from an employee of the deceased, who claimed to have seen Sararat deliver the salad. The employee was unable to answer defence questions regarding the make of the defendant’s vehicle, despite claiming to recognise it because Sararat frequently visited the victim. The court found the testimony unreliable.
The court also rejected the prosecution's argument that the alleged murder was motivated by a 60,000-baht debt. Evidence showed that the victim had pawned her car to Sararat for 100,000 baht and had already repaid 50,000 baht.
After the victim's death, Sararat allegedly demanded that the victim's husband pay 600,000 baht to redeem the vehicle. The amount was later negotiated down to 300,000 baht, which he paid before recovering the car.
Given these circumstances, the court ruled that the alleged debt did not provide a convincing motive for murder and concluded that the prosecution’s evidence failed to establish a clear link between the defendant and the alleged poisoning. The court dismissed the case.
In the first case against her, Sararat was sentenced to death for the murder of Siriporn "Koi" Khanwong, who died near a riverside pier in Ban Pong district of Ratchaburi province.
In the second case, involving the poisoning death of Pol Maj Nipa Sangchan, known as “Inspector Pu”, the court initially imposed the death penalty but commuted the sentence to life imprisonment because her testimony was deemed beneficial to the proceedings.
In the third case, concerning the death of engineer Nittaya Kaewbuppha in Nakhon Pathom province, the court acquitted Sararat, citing insufficient evidence that she possessed cyanide or had a financial motive.
In the fourth case, involving the poisoning death of Pol Capt Sukanda "Captain Nui" Wimonmal, a former finance officer at Phu Pha Man police station in Khon Kaen province, the court sentenced Sararat to death. The sentence was later reduced by one-third to life imprisonment.
Investigators suspect Sararat administered potassium cyanide to 14 people between 2015 and 2023, allegedly to avoid debts or steal valuables. They linked the serial cyanide killer to heavy online gambling, large bank transactions and attempts to hide evidence.
The Kanchanaburi native, dubbed "Aem Cyanide" after police found traces of cyanide in the victims' bodies, was arrested on April 25, 2023, and she was pregnant when caught.
Police wrapped up their investigation into her criminal cases in June 2023, about the time she miscarried during the fifth or sixth month of her pregnancy.
