Neighbours rushed the victom, Nonglak Thavorn, to Thalang Hospital but she died not long after.
Police searched the garden of and found a knife in the grass in the garden with blood on it. It was sent for forensic examination.
Mrs Nonglak’s neighbour, Amnuay Limpanon, told police that he was in his garden when he heard her calling out for help.
He climbed over the wall to find her lying on the ground with a knife sticking out of her head, just behind her right ear. He pulled out the knife and shouted for help. Another neighbor carried her to his pick-up truck and drove her to hospital.
Mr Amnuay said that Mrs Nonglak lived in another house not far away from the one where she was stabbed; she would come to the house from time to time to look after it.
From what they found in the garden police believe that, before she was stabbed, Mrs Nonglak was using the knife to peel a santol fruit (in Thai, katorn).
Police are working on the theory that her killer may have been hiding in the garden waiting for her. When she came out of the house, this person tried to steal her gold necklace and gold bracelet but she resisted, so the criminal used the knife to stab her before fleeing.