Neighbour held for beating Italian man to death in front of his house

A THAI NEIGHBOUR who was arrested for hitting an Italian man in the head with an iron rod till he collapsed and died in front of his house in Pathum Thani this afternoon (Dec. 2) said he was angry because the deceased man discarded garbage in front of his house and had filed a case against his son leading to his imprisonment, Thai Rath newspaper and TV Channel 7 said.

Khlong Luang police station investigators questioned eyewitnesses in the murder of Mr. Kun Milazzo Gian Luca, 54, in front of his house at Passorn Village 2, Khlong Sam subdistrict, Khlong Luang district, who told them he had problem with his neighbour across the road because he disposed garbage in front of their house with this spreading a bad smell.

This fight between the two neighbours had reached the point of going to court, they added.

At 4 p.m. today Pol. Col. Kiattisak Mitprasat, superintendent of Khlong Luang police station, and his team arrested Mr. Phongphas Thitmongkoltham, 55, the deceased Italian man’s neigbour with whom he had been at loggerheads.

Phongphas confessed to killing his Italian neighbour, saying he was angry because in the morning he had visited his son in jail and he was stressed out and unable to eat.

He was jailed after the Italian man filed a lawsuit against him for assault that stemmed from discarding garbage in front of their house.

However Phongphas said it was he who had punched up his foreign neighbour that day, not his son who only stepped in to stop the fight.

Yet his son was found guilty because the Italian man produced a “drunken witness” who verified his testimony in court.

“He didn’t point to me, if he had pointed at me it would have ended there, my son had nothing to do with it but the court has handed down the verdict,” he said.

Police have initially recorded the arrest and handed the accused to investigating officers for legal proceedings.

A background check revealed that Luca lived in this house alone after his Thai wife left a long time ago. The bank had foreclosed the property with water and electricity cut off but he continued living there.

The deceased man’s body was taken by Ruam Katanyu Foundation volunteers to Thammasat University Hospital for forensic examination with his relatives to be contacted to take his body for funeral after it is over.

CAPTIONS:

Top: The deceased Italian man’s neighbour talking to the police. Photo: Thai Rath

Front Page: Volunteers taking Mr. Kun Milazzo Gian Luca’s body to Thammasat University Hospital. Photo: TV Channel 7

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