Security guard arrested for killing stranded driver

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A drug-abusing security guard who volunteered to help a drunk driver change a flat tire has been arrested for murdering him.

Tanat Khunachaikij, 36, was taken into custody Nov. 17, a day after police found the battered body of Surath Kaewsawee, 32, inside his pickup truck outside Nontri Village Park View on Kobang Road near Lake Mabprachan in Pong Sub-district.

Police who responded to Surath’s death around 5 a.m. Nov. 16 were told by Tanat that the victim had pulled over in front of the village with a flat tire and asked for help in changing it. But the driver was drunk, rude and abusive, leaving the guard initially unwilling to help.

Tanat Khunachaikij was taken into custody a day after police found the battered body of Surath Kaewsawee inside a pickup truck near Lake Mabprachan.Tanat Khunachaikij was taken into custody a day after police found the battered body of Surath Kaewsawee inside a pickup truck near Lake Mabprachan.

So Surath called police for assistance. Tanat told investigators the victim then fell asleep in the truck and police never arrived. The next time he checked on him, he was dead.

Dubious homicide investigators returned the next day and administered the shifty-acting security guard a drug test, which he failed.

Police said an unidentified co-worker told them a different story about the previous morning. He said Tanat asked him to help change the tire, but the dead man and guard got into a violent argument and Tanat beat him to death, then left him in the truck.

Tanat refused to confess, but police believed they had enough evidence to jail him on drug and murder charges.