Former Bangkok senator Sukhum Cherdchuen was sentenced...

Former Bangkok senator Sukhum Cherdchuen was sentenced to death by a criminal court in Thailand after being found guilty of masterminding the murder of a woman doctor in 1996. Three hired hitmen were also initially sentenced to death but had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment because they had confessed. The court found Sukhum, 47, had been in conflict with the victim, Dr Nitcharee Makarasarn, over several business matters. It was alleged that during October 15-25, 1996, Sukhum and his driver Chatchapat Kittitanakorn, who had since died, hired Thanasak Yimdee, 32, Sarawut Chaising, 31, and Wichian Kittitanakorn, 44, for 500,000 baht to kill the doctor. According to the court, they shot Nitcharee on Oct 25, 1996, as she was driving from her house to work. She was shot five times, once in the head and four in the right side, with an unlicensed 11mm pistol belonging to Chatchapat.