Word: nopdol
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...night of Sept. 5, 1999. A scion of one of Thailand's richest business clans, Hangthong's personal fortune had been depleted by costly political campaigns and his familial relations strained by an ugly inheritance feud. "He was nervous, hands shaking as he ate," recalls younger brother Nopdol Tumwattana, who lived at the compound in Bang Khen in northern Bangkok with Hangthong and may have been the last person to see his brother alive. Hours later, after calls from panicked relatives, police found Hangthong slumped in a living room chair, still clutching a revolver. Investigators quickly ruled his death...
...Scottish forensics specialist and enlisted the aid of a Thai medical examiner to scrutinize the evidence. Their conclusion: blood spatters at the scene, the angle of the entry wound and other factors strongly indicated murder. Last Friday, after an investigation that lasted more than two months, prosecutors charged Nopdol with murder, but he isn't the only one on trial. The sensational case has raised so many questions about the way cops handled the 1999 investigation that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed to clean up the country's notoriously corrupt legal system...
...interview he granted TIME while under investigation, Nopdol offered a simple explanation for this history of bloodshed. "It's greed," he says, alleging that relatives and in-laws fighting over the family businesses and inheritance are responsible. He says he is innocent and had no reason to kill his brother, because he made his own fortune running a jewelry company and selling Body Glove clothing. "I'm the victim now," he says. He claims that Hangthong took his own life because, unable to prevent family members from going to court over their mother's fortune, he knew that Nopdol would...
...businessmen don't trust the legal system, because they believe courts and cops can be bought. "Violence was quite a big option," says Baker. The country has an estimated thousand or so professional gunmen who earn their livings mainly by "solving" business conflicts. Few are ever caught. Shortly after Nopdol's arrest, Thaksin told the press that fingerprint evidence showed that more than one person was involved in Hangthong's death. Instructing police to investigate the original team that had concluded that the politician committed suicide, the Prime Minister said, "It's time to reform the whole system...
...Nopdol, whose trial was scheduled to begin on Monday, says he fears he will be found guilty due to the current political climate. Meanwhile, the six surviving Tumwattana siblings remain a family divided. "It's really a shame," says Hangthong's son Changwat, who adds that he believes his uncle Nopdol is innocent. "Our family could have become one of the most prominent in Thailand. But greed has held us back. Greed has been our tragedy...
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