They are Surikfat Bannopwongsakul, 41, Prajak Boontoy, 36, Komsan Wiangnon, Abdulloh Doloh, 30, Tawatchai Boonkong, 37, and Arun Thongkham, 29.
Two other defendants received prison terms: one year and nine months for Tanachai Jamnong, 41, and one year for Chalita Sangchote 41.
The court found the first six defendants guilty of the murder of Worayut Sanglang, 46, head of Moo 1 village in tambon Ban Klang of Ao Luek district, and seven of his family, three of them young children, on the night of July 10, 2017.
Surikfat, also known as Bang Fat, and his accomplices were wearing military-like clothing when they forced their way into Mr Worayut’s home and held 11 members of the family captive.
They were later all shot, execution style. Three of the victims, a mother and her two young daughters, survived. The mother’s wound was a bullet graze, and she passed out. The girls raised their hands to block the bullets, which lodged in their heads.
According to earlier reports, the killers tried to fake the death scene, using Mr Worayut’s gun to kill the family and making it appear he then killed himself.
Mr Worayut’s father-in-law had pledged a block of land to Surikfat as security for a loan. He later repaid the loan but Surikfat was unable to return the property because he in turn had pledged it for a loan he took out. Worayut demanded the return of the land, which led to a bitter conflict culminating in mass murder.
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