PHETCHABURI, Thailand, Sept 6 - A Thai court sentenced a Thai woman and three men to life in jail for killing her British ex-husband, burning his body and burying the remains in the jungle.

The sentence was commuted from death because they had pleaded guilty, judge Sarayuth Busayanawin said.

"The defendants' testimonies were useful to the trial, therefore their sentence has been commuted to life

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in prison," Sarayuth said.
The court found the ex-wife, Panadda Charnaud, 35, guilty of hiring the three men to kill Toby Charnaud, a former farmer from Chippenham in Wiltshire, at her farm in the Kaeng Krajan National Park, 180 km (110 miles) south of Bangkok in March last year.

The defence lawyer told Reuters all four would appeal.

She wanted sole custody of their son, Daniel, who now lives with his father's family in England, the court said. The Charnaud family lawyer said the motive was to "inherit everything through their son".

Panadda, who reported her ex-husband missing to police in April last year, told the court she took Daniel to a Buddhist temple carnival on the day Boontien Puipong, Chatree Prathum and Pinit Sattabutr beat her ex-husband to death.

They tried to get rid of the body by burning it on 20 kg (44 lb) of charcoal, then buried the remains in the jungle, the judge said.

Charnaud's family became suspicious after Panadda reported their son missing and hired a locally based Scottish private eye to find out what happened to him, British newspapers reported.

The agent checked mobile-phone records and discovered that Charnaud had been at Panadda's house on the day he disappeared.

When police raided the house, two of the killers confessed and led them to where the remains were buried.

Charnaud met and married Panadda, a former Bangkok bargirl, in Thailand in 1997, then sold his farm and bought two bars in the seaside town of Hua Hin, according to British newspapers.

He divorced Pannada because of her gambling debts and gave her a 777,000 baht (11,000 pound) settlement, they said.

Yahoo News 06/09/06

Hopefully the sentences will hold. By that I mean not be reduced to 18 months on appeal. Some time ago I was on a TG flight and struck up a conversation with the woman next to me. She was travelling to BKK to vist her critically ill son. He was a teacher in BKK and had recently been assaulted by 4 Thais using iron bars. This was a "face saving" attack as the UK guy was now seeing the ringleaders ex girlfriend who wanted nothing to do with the drugged, drunken ******* of a Thai. We bade farewell at Immigration as she was met by Embassy officials. I later learned that her son died in hospital of his horrific injuries. The sentance was 18 MONTHS! For pre meditated murder.

We all know the Thai legal system / Police are both corrupt and racist, but this is taking the ****! Like Pattaya drive-by shootings! 9 rounds fired from a moving m/cycle, 6 hit the White guy, but none even scratch the Thai girl on the back of the bike!! If it wasn't so tragically real it would be the joke of the century! Be careful out there.

Post edited (Keith&Mol): PM sent to poster