Seattle police investigators this morning ruled the death of two Thai graduate students a murder-suicide, believing one roommate stabbed the other to death before stabbing herself in their shared apartment near the University of Washington.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office — responsible for the autopsy — announced their cause of death earlier this morning.
Twenty-five-year-old Kornkamol “Amm” Leenawarat, niece of Kritsada Leenawarat, mayor of Thanyaburi district in Pathumthani province, died from multiple stab wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide, reported Seattle Times.
The death of Thiti-on Chotechuangsab, 32, was ruled a suicide by stab wound to the chest. There is very little information about Thiti-on online.
Both are believed to have died on Saturday. Their bodies were not discovered until Tuesday evening.
Kornkamol’s brother, Weerasak Leenawarat, told local media that the family, especially their father, Thonburi’s former mayor Papawin Leenawarat, is in deep mourning.
Weerasak explains that the victims first met and became roommates while perusing their undergraduate degree at Thammasat University in Bangkok, reported Khaosod.
The family, who had met Thiti-on on numerous occasions and said to have trusted her completely, are reportedly having a difficult time believing the examiner’s findings.
Weerasak doesn’t believe the rumors that his sister and her murderer were lovers to be true as Kornkamol had “went official with a new boyfriend two months ago.”
Coconuts has not yet been able to identify the boyfriend.
“Amm… our family’s angel was a good, happy, smart and brave person” Weerasak wrote on Facebook on Wednesday, “in just seven months, you were going to come home and take the test to be a judge in small court. But in the end, your death wasn’t anything we could ever foresee.”
“Though you’ve only been here for a short 24 years a 9 months, I guess it was for the angel to return to heaven. Go find peace, our angel.”
Meanwhile, University of Washington president Ana Mari Cauce issued a statement offering condolences on behalf of the university while reassuring the public that the incident only involved the two students and pose “no risk to the broader community.”
