A FRENCH businesswoman was found lying dead by the swimming pool of her luxury villa on Koh Samui with a gunshot piercing her temple and a.45 caliber automatic handgun by her side plus a bullet casing of the same size on the floor with this believed to be a suicide, Amarin TV said today (Apr. 29).
Mr. Somporn Bunsert, 29, a pool maintenance worker, told police that when he came to work at the villa in Mae Nam subdistrict at 8 a.m. as usual he saw the body of his boss Mrs. Catherine Delacot,59, (name translated as written in Thai) lying on the floor so he told his supervisor to call them.
He added that his boss was cheerful and kind and always joking with him.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Natthawalai Phupongta, 49, the housekeeper who worked for the Frenchwoman for many years, said before dying her boss had transferred their wages and had told her there would be a meeting the next day as she had many complicated matters to talk to her and her two subordinates.
Delacot had previously suffered from cancer but had improved but had also broken up with her husband, she added.
Police also found her will on a table with the housekeeper getting a share of her assets. There were traces of gunpowder on her left wrist and no sign of breaking and entering. The bullet had upon exiting her right temple hit a glass door with the bullet found within the house,
Natthawalai told police that her boss had previously asked for copies of her ID card and household registration. Moreover she had last night sent messages to her friends that she has included her in her will.
As for the pistol, this was purchased after the villa was burgled a few times with many items stolen.
Natthawalai added that she will arrange a good Thai funeral for her boss.
Police believe that Delacot did commit suicide because she sent messages to various people as if she was saying good bye or giving some orders.
She had also transferred the workers’ salaries and the surveillance camera angle at the swimming pool was also adjusted.
She owned two villas on Koh Samui with the second one also being in Mae Nam subdistrict.
CAPTION:
The luxury villa where the Frenchwoman was found dead this morning, Apr. 29, 2024. Photo: Amarin TV
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