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MURDERED IN THAILAND
A MAN who was brought up in Harborough has been murdered in what appears to have been a cold-blooded plot hatched by his Thai wife and her lover.
Ian Beeston (69) was found clubbed and stabbed to death on Saturday at his home in Thailand.
His wife – 27 years his junior – has been charged with masterminding the brutal killing alongside her Thai lover. Following normal Thai police procedure, the suspects were led to the scene and gave a graphic demonstration of how he had been killed.
It emerged on Tuesday that tragic Mr Beeston was brought up in Great Bowden and went to Market Harborough Grammar School.
Mr Beeston had forecast his own murder in Thailand weeks before in a letter sent to divorce lawyers.
THE FULL STORY IS IN TODAY'S HARBOROUGH MAIL IN A SPECIAL, THREE-PAGE REPORT
The body of the 69-year-old, who was brought up in Knights End Road, Great Bowden, was found in a blood-soaked room in his house in the north-eastern Thai province of Roi-Et.
Police have charged his 42-year-old Thai wife Wacheerawan Beeston and her lover Somchit Janong (48) with the murder.
In a letter lodged with lawyers, Mr Beeston had written: "It is just a matter of time now. I am in real fear for my own life."
He had even been given a stun gun by friends to help him fend off any attackers.
Mr Beeston had been married to his Thai bride – nicknamed Wanna – for nine years although it is unclear when they set up home in Roi-Et.
Reports say Mr Beeston invested his 350,000 life savings in more than an acre of property in a village called Suwannaphum where his home, a guesthouse and a restaurant were built.
It is believed that Wanna wanted Mr Beeston dead so she could inherit the site.
Under Thai law foreigners are barred from owning property so Mr Beeston had put the landholdings in his wife's name.
But divorce proceedings were due to start on Monday this week, which would have entitled him under Thai law to 50 per cent of the assets.
Four months ago Wanna is said to have cashed in the property at a local bank and Mr Beeston reportedly told neighbours: "I thought she loved me but she just wanted my cash."
Neighbours said Mr Beeston believed his wife had already tried to poison him in the weeks before his death and he had sent a beer to a lab for toxicology tests.
Mr Beeston, who used to work at Ford's Dagenham plant in Essex, is said to have asked his wife to leave the home after which she moved to a nearby shack.
On Monday, Wanna and her lover were arrested and charged with Mr Beeston's murder.
*FULL three-page report in today's Mail, including:
*Pictures of Mr Beeston's home and the shack where Wanna had been banished
*Photos of the suspects and the macabre image of the lover showing police how he clubbed Mr Beeston
*Tributes from neighbours in Thailand
*School friends and contemporaries recall Mr Beeston and his family
*Tragic background to Mr Beeston's family
*READ about the background to the Beeston murder at Mail news editor Alex Blackwell's blog. Scroll to the bottom of the Mail homepage.
*READ a behind-the-scenes report into how the Mail reporting team covered the story at Mail news editor Alex Blackwell's blog.
www.blogstoday.co.uk/Alex Blackwell.blog
*Did you know Mr Beeston? Leave a tribute here, email the newsdesk at alex.blackwell@harboroughmail.co.uk or phone 01858 436004. The Thai embassy in London confirmed they were due to appear in court today (Thursday).
Following normal Thai police procedure in such cases, the casually-dressed murder suspects were led to the murder scene where Mr Beeston’s blood was still visible on the floor.
The handcuffed Janong gave a graphic demonstration of how he had beaten and knifed Mr Beeston to death.
As the pair were arrested, onlookers, shocked at the callous murder, jeered and shouted ‘hia’[lizard], a strong Thai insult.
Neill James, a consular official of the British Embassy in Bangkok who attended the murder scene, called for a transparent police enquiry.
Police captain Patapong Patniboon, of Suwannaphum police, said: “We have assured the British Embassy that the investigation will be thorough.”
A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed a British national had been killed in Thailand but refused to comment further.
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Weather for Market Harborough
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
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Temperature: 9 C to 13 C
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