An American Vietnamese woman is believed to have killed five people with cyanide-laced tea before poisoning herself at an upscale Bangkok hotel after a legal dispute over bad investments, Thai police revealed Wednesday.
Police suspect Chong Sherine, 56, is to blame for the grim slayings after the six bodies were discovered in a room at the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel late Tuesday, the Bangkok Post reported.
Traces of the rapid-acting poison were uncovered during the autopsies and on drinking glasses and a teapot found inside the hotel room, cops said.
Relatives of the victims told investigators that Chong had apparently become embroiled in a legal spat with the five others after urging them to invest in various construction projects, Police Maj. Gen. Nopasilp Poonsawat said.
A husband and wife among the dead had invested about 10 million baht ($278,000) to build a hospital in Japan — and threatened to sue when the project didn’t progress, he added.
The six were scheduled to appear in a court later this month, but Chong invited them to meet at the hotel ahead of time to try to negotiate, Nopasilp said.
It wasn’t immediately clear where the court proceedings were slated to take place.
The group, who had checked into the posh hotel at various points over the weekend, were last seen alive heading into the room on Monday afternoon, police said.
Security footage showed Chong receiving a room service delivery shortly before the five others arrived, according to cops.
She is said to have refused an offer from hotel staff to brew the tea — opting instead to do it herself.
No one was spotted leaving the room in the aftermath and the door was locked from the inside.
Four of the bodies were located in the living room and two in the bedroom, Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang said.
He said two of them appeared to have tried to reach the door but collapsed before they could.
A mass suicide was unlikely because some of the group had arranged future parts of their trip — including guides and drivers, investigators had said earlier.
One of the hotel maids made the grim discovery after the guests failed to check out on time.
Cops immediately started testing the drinks found inside the room after traces of “suspicious substances” were spotted floating in the cups and glasses.
Photos from the crime scene showed the cups and teapots strewn out across a table inside the room, while the room service food remained untouched.
The traces of cyanide were uncovered during the initial autopsies performed at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn Hospital, officials said.
“We can assume that the six died from cyanide,” Chulalongkorn Hospital’s Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin told reporters, adding that results of further tests would be available on Friday.
Cops are still probing how the cyanide was obtained.
Chong and another guest, Dang Hung Van, 55, both had US passports. The four Vietnamese nationals were identified as Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47, Pham Hong Thanh, 49, Tran Dinh Phu, 37, and Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46.
Meanwhile, police had earlier said they were searching for a seventh person — also a Vietnamese national — whose name was part of the hotel booking.
They have since determined that the person, who was a sibling of one of the six killed, had left Thailand on July 10 and is believed to have no involvement in the deaths.
The Vietnamese and US Embassies have both been contacted over the deaths, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said, adding that the FBI was en route to help with the investigation.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller offered condolences to the families of the dead.
He said the US was closely monitoring the situation and would communicate with local authorities.
With Post wires
