Policemen inspect after an incident, in which six bodies were found at a hotel in Bangkok on July 16, 2024. Six people believed to be Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans were found dead in a hotel room in central Bangkok on July 16, a senior police officer said. (Photo by LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Staff James Meyers 9:26 AM – Wednesday, July 17, 2024
An American Vietnamese woman is believed to have killed five people with cyanide-laced tea before poisoning herself in a high end Bangkok hotel after a legal dispute over bad investments, according to Thai police on Wednesday.
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Police suspect Chong Sherine, 56, is to blame for the murders after the six bodies were discovered by housekeepers in a room at the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel Tuesday night, the Bangkok Post reported.
Doctors who examined the bodies said based on the initial post-mortem examination, they say there is “no other cause” that would explain their deaths “except for cyanide”.
“But from what we have detected – from observation, from internal organ check, from finding cyanide in the blood during the screening test – there is no other cause that would be the factor that would cause their deaths, except for cyanide,” Doctor Chanchai Sittipunt told reporters.
Traces of the cyanide were uncovered during the autopsies and on drinking glasses and a teapot found inside the hotel room, according to authorities.
Family members of the victims told investigators that Chong had allegedly become involved in a legal indifference with the five other victims after pleading with them to invest in different 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, while also threatening to sue when the project didn’t progress.
Additionally, the six were originally 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.
Police also said that the group had checked into the hotel at different points over the weekend, and were last seen alive heading into the room on Monday afternoon.
Security footage in the hotel showed Chong receiving a room service delivery shortly before the five others arrived, according to authorities.
It was reported that she refused an offer from hotel staff to brew the tea, instead wanting to do it herself.
No one was spotted leaving the room in the aftermath and the door was locked from the inside.
Four bodies were located in the living room and two in the bedroom, Bangkok police Chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang said.
He also said two of them appeared to have tried to reach the door but collapsed before they could.
Investigators noted that a mass suicide was unlikely because some of the group had arranged future parts of their trip, including guides and drivers.
Police immediately started testing the drinks found inside the room after traces of “suspicious substances” were spotted floating in the cups and glasses.
Meanwhile, cops are still investigating 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.
Furthermore, police are also searching for a seventh person, whose name was part of the hotel reservation.
The Vietnamese and US Embassies have both been contacted over the deaths, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said, adding that the FBI will help with the investigation.
The discovery of the six bodies comes just one day after Thailand expanded visa-free entry to travelers from 93 countries and territories to increase its tourism industry.
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