The de facto 48-year-old Thai wife of an 84-year-old Japanese man who was murdered at his home in Thailand's central province of Ang Thong earlier this week has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the crime, local police said Friday.
Police said Poranee Napadol denies any involvement in the bloody killing of Kazuo Yoshioka at the home they shared in Wiset Chai Chan district.
According to police, the woman is suspected of paying her brother-in-law to kill the Japanese man.
The brother-in-law, identified as 46-year-old Sampan Chamchaeng, was arrested Wednesday in a neighboring province on suspicion of murder and confessed to killing Yoshioka at Poranee's request, according to police.
Besides Sampan and Poranee, the police have also arrested a Thai man living near Yoshioka for alleged involvement in his murder, and obtained arrested warrants for two of Poranee's relatives.
Poranee notified police after finding Yoshioka dead with his throat slit Tuesday morning at their house.
At the scene, police found several bloody footprints and evidence of a struggle, while bloodstains were also found in front of an adjacent house where Sampan lived and which belongs to his wife, a younger sister of Poranee.