Serial killer suspect ‘strangled four’

A SUSPECTED serial killer calmly told reporters that he strangled four prostitutes in northern Thailand, following his arrest yesterday after a nationwide manhunt.

Police detained Somkid Phumphuang, 41, as he checked into a hotel in northern Chaiyaphum province with a prostitute who investigators believe he was planning to kill, said Maj Gen Winai Thongsong, chief of the Crime Suppression Division.

At a news conference which a handcuffed Somkid also attended, Winai said that investigators followed Somkid from a nearby massage parlour where he hired the prostitute.