A DNA test linked a gold shop robber arrested last week to a 2013 robbery, with police saying the match closes a cold case after seven years of investigation.
The suspect, 28 year old Jalor, also known as Tew, was arrested in Chiang Rai on February 19 after stealing nearly 15 million baht in cash and gold from a shop inside a shopping mall on Soi Sukhumvit 50 in Bangkok on January 31.
CCTV footage showed Jalor entering the gold shop as staff were preparing to close. Police said he threatened to set fire to the mall, causing staff to fear for their safety and hand over gold accessories and cash. Jalor fled the scene on a motorcycle and evaded police for nearly three weeks before his arrest.
The suspect told police he asked a friend in Myanmar to sell the stolen gold. He said he received 200,000 baht from the sale of a first batch and had arranged to meet the friend for more money on March 7, but was arrested before that meeting.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau told Channel 7 that Jalor’s physical characteristics and method of committing the theft resembled a gold robbery case reported as occurring in 2013 inside a shopping mall in Bangkok’s Rama 4 neighbourhood.
During that earlier investigation, police collected DNA believed to belong to the suspect from the handle of a yellow Yamaha motorcycle used in the crime.
Police said they compared Jalor’s DNA with the DNA collected in the older case and found a match. Investigators confirmed Jalor was the wanted robber in the 2013 case and said they plan to extend legal charges against him.
Another cold case concluded through DNA testing was reported in September last year. In that case, advances in technology and improved DNA collection enabled police to identify a skeleton found in Bangkok as a Thai woman named Kae, who went missing in 2013.
Police were also able to trace Kae’s boyfriend, who was suspected of killing her. He was summoned for questioning multiple times and denied the allegations, but later died by suicide before the next interrogation, Channel 7 reported.
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