Khaosod newspaper reported that on July 17, Thai police officials held a press conference to update the progress of the investigation into the case of 6 people, including 4 Vietnamese citizens, found dead in the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in the afternoon. 16.7.
Police conducted an autopsy, collected evidence and questioned more than 10 related witnesses, including the victim's relatives. The police concluded in summary as follows:
1) Ms. Sherine Chong , 56 years old, American nationality: Found dead near the dining table. Enter Thailand at 1:05 p.m. on July 15, from Ho Chi Minh City. Been to Thailand 5 times. Ms. Chong was the person who checked into room 502, where the victims died.
2) Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan , 47 years old, Vietnamese nationality: Wearing a pink shirt, found dead in the bedroom. Entering Thailand at 12:56 on July 4, from Da Nang. Been to Thailand 17 times.
3) Mr. Tran Phu Dinh , 37 years old, Vietnamese nationality: Found dead near Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan and Mr. Dang Van Hung. Enter Thailand at 12:28 on July 12, from Da Nang. Been to Thailand 11 times.
4) Mr. Dang Van Hung , 55 years old, American nationality: Wearing a navy blue shirt, found dead next to Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan. Entered Thailand for the first time at 9:55 a.m. on July 7 from Taipei, Taiwan (China).
5) Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong , 46 years old, Vietnamese nationality: Wearing a white shirt, found dead near the door of the room. Entering Thailand at 1:48 p.m. on July 12 from Ho Chi Minh City. Been to Thailand 3 times.
6) Mr. Pham Thanh Hong , 49 years old, Vietnamese nationality: is the husband of Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong. Found dead in the bedroom. Entering Thailand for the first time with his wife at 1:48 p.m. on July 12 from Ho Chi Minh City. His name did not appear on the hotel check-in list because his wife's name was used to book the room.
Developments
CCTV footage from the hotel shows that all individuals checked in on their own and no one else entered the room. Camera excerpts from July 14 to 15, during the time of the incident, confirm that no one other than these 6 people entered room 502, except for the food service staff who provided complete information.
Events on July 14 showed that Ms. Sherine Chong was in the room where the incident occurred. The remaining five people came to this room around 11-12 o'clock at night and then returned to their own rooms.
On July 15, after checking out, everyone moved their luggage to room 502. At 11:42, Mr. Dang Van Hung ordered food from the hotel including 5 plates of fried rice, 4 plates of tom yum kung, 4 plates of stir-fried vegetables, 1 plate of vegetables. Stir-fried water spinach, 2 pots of hot tea and 6 cups of tea.
After that, Mr. Tran Phu Dinh ordered another plate of fried rice, requesting delivery at 2:00 p.m. Room service staff delivered food at 1:51 p.m., spending 6 minutes serving food.
According to the testimony of the room service staff, when entering, she only saw Ms. Sherine Chong. When the staff offered to make tea, Ms. Sherine Chong refused and said she would make it herself. The waitress noted that Ms. Sherine Chong seemed quite stressed and did not smile, even when complimented on her beautiful clothes.
After the room service staff left at 13:57, from 14:03 onwards, the remaining people gradually entered room 502. After that, no one was seen entering or leaving the room until the bodies were discovered.
The bodies were discovered at 4:30 p.m. on July 16, when hotel staff came to check the room because it was past check-out time.
Forensic results showed that there were traces of liquid cyanide in the teapot and in all 6 cups of tea, as well as in the blood sample of one of the victims.
Police suspect that Ms. Sherine Chong poisoned the remaining 5 people, then she herself drank tea containing cyanide and died.
Source
Through questioning relatives, the police said that Ms. Sherine Chong asked Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan to act as a broker to convince the couple of Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong and Mr. Pham Thanh Hong - a road construction contractor in Vietnam, invested 278,000 USD (about 10 million Thai baht) to build a hospital in Japan.
When the investment made no progress, the couple began to repeatedly ask Ms. Sherine Chong for a refund. They initially agreed to meet in Japan to resolve the matter, but when one person couldn't get a visa, they changed the meeting location to Thailand. They chose Thailand because they could also visit Wat Yannawa in Bangkok, a famous place for Vietnamese people.
For Mr. Tran Phu Dinh and Mr. Dang Van Hung, the information is still unclear. The two have yet to invest money but appear to have been invited to discuss potential investments. It is known that Ms. Sherine Chong booked a room for Mr. Hung, but he used his credit card to book the room.
Examination of 8 pieces of luggage of the victims did not reveal any signs of crime. The incident was confirmed to be due to a conflict between 6 individuals and was not related to any transnational criminal organization.
None of the four Vietnamese and the remaining two people who died had arrest warrants or criminal records.
