Suspected serial killer allegedly swindled Thailand murder victims before poisoning them with cyanide

A Thai woman accused of a spate of poisonings has been charged with 14 counts of murder, police said Wednesday, in one of the kingdom's worst suspected serial killing cases. Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn is alleged to have swindled thousands of dollars out of her victims before poisoning them with cyanide.

She was arrested last week over nine suspicious deaths that took place over several years, but the police swiftly widened their probe.

Her husband Vitoon Rangsiwuthaporn, a high-ranking policeman, was charged with fraud and embezzlement related to the murders, BBC News reports. According to the news outlet, police said he picked up his wife after she allegedly killed an ex-boyfriend.

Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn said Sararat lured 15 people — one of whom survived — to take poisoned "herb capsules."

"She asked people she knows for money because she has a lot of credit card debt... and if they asked her for their money back she started killing them," Surachate told reporters.

"We are investigating the amount of money that she got from victims," Surachate said.

Last week, he indicated the sums involved in each case ran into hundreds of thousands of baht — the equivalent of thousands of U.S. dollars.

Both Sararat and her husband deny the allegations against them.

Sararat — who is four months pregnant — is facing 14 charges of premeditated murder and one of attempted murder, but police are investigating up to three other potentially linked cases.

Last week, officers expanded the geographic area they were investigating to five provinces.

Police initially suspected the woman of murdering a friend in Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, in mid-April.

Local media said the victim collapsed on the bank of the Mae Klong River after releasing fish as part of a Buddhist ritual.

After questioning the suspect, investigators linked her to other cyanide poisoning cases.

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• Thailand
• Murder