American Buddhist Net

by John Boyle
updated January 18, 2007 12:11 pm

NONG KHAI, THAILAND - The man charged with the murders of Phillip and Ashley McRowan, the Fairview couple who were shot a year ago in Thailand, has been tried and sentenced to death.

"The Embassy has just received word from the court in Nong Khai that the judge returned a guilty verdict this morning against Arthit Thinchanh for the murder of Philip and Ashley McRowan," Laura Stone, deputy press attaché for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, said via e-mail early this morning. "The judge has imposed the death penalty. We are attempting to contact the family."

Stone said a second suspect in the slayings is being sought.

"He is believed to have fled to Laos, but according to Thai authorities his wife has been taken into police custody," Stone said. "The Embassy continues to follow the case closely."

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Luke Siharath, Phillip McRowan's brother, said this morning that the State Department had notified him about the sentence. He knows the death sentence cannot bring his brother or sister-in-law back, but he sees the court proceedings as some measure of justice.

"I have mixed emotions about it," said Siharath, who lives near Raleigh. "I don't know what other crimes that person has done. I believe in the court system, whether it's here or over there. They're all modeled to bring justice. Beyond that, I wouldn't know what to say."

Phillip and Ashley McRowan, who had lived in Fairview for more than a decade and claimed to be of royal Lao heritage, were shot Jan. 18, 2006, in daylight by men in dark suits and sunglasses, with several witnesses nearby. In May, police in Thailand arrested Thinchanh.
Contact John Boyle at 828-232-5847, via e-mail at jboyle@ashevill.gannett.com