Thai Ambassador Visits Site of Slayings : Violence: He calls for increased security at the temple while monks vow to restaff it. Police still lack a motive and solid leads in the murders of nine people.

By JANE FRITSCH

Aug. 13, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

PHOENIX — The Thai ambassador to the United States flew to Phoenix on Monday to lay a wreath at the temple where six Buddhist monks, a nun and two others were slain and to ask authorities for increased security at the isolated site.

“The reaction (in Thailand) has been very sad, shocked and quite strong,” said Ambassador Birabhongse Kasemsri. “The Thai community felt shock because it could not imagine that such a crime could be committed against these monks and . . . because the temple has been quite well established for a number of years.”

The ambassador, who came here from Washington, refused to speculate on a motive, but said he intended to question authorities about the possibility of a hate crime.

Meanwhile, 11 Buddhist monks from across the country gathered here and vowed to restaff the temple, all of whose monks were shot to death late Friday or early Saturday in a crime that has left authorities with little evidence and almost no leads.

On Monday, investigators began searching for a late-model red and white Ford Bronco II that was seen leaving the temple grounds about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, said Duane Brady, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department. Brady said it was unusual for such a vehicle to be on the grounds.

The bodies of the six monks, who were from Thailand, were found about 10 a.m. Saturday by a temple member who was bringing their morning meal. The bodies of an elderly Buddhist nun; her grandson, who was studying with the monks, and a young man from Thailand who lived and worked at the temple also were found.

The bodies were lying side by side and face down in a room adjacent to the main worship room. Each had been shot once in the back of the head and some had been hit from behind with buckshot from a shotgun, investigators said.

Authorities said Monday they still had no idea what the motive for the killings might have been.

“It could be anything from a hate crime to gang violence to an isolated couple of kooks,” Brady said.

Authorities have speculated that the motive may have been robbery, a theory based on the reports of some worshipers who said the monks sometimes wore jewelry. No jewelry was found on their bodies.

However, the Thai ambassador disputed that theory and said the monks never wore jewelry. He said some people may have been confused by medallions carrying images of Buddha that the monks sometimes wore.

Kasemsri met for about an hour with 11 monks to discuss the future of the temple as well as their concerns about security for funeral services they plan to hold at the site of the killings as soon as the bodies are released by the Maricopa County medical examiner.

The ambassador said the temple had been staffed by “very dedicated, peace-loving, law-abiding Buddhist monks.” He added: “As far as Buddhist practice is concerned, a temple without monks would be no longer a temple.”

There is no surplus of monks in the 22 temples throughout the United States, Kasemsri said, and replacements may have to be chosen from among monks in Thailand, who may be reluctant to fill the spots as long as the crime goes unsolved.

Phongsak Chayathummo, a monk from the Buddhist temple in North Hollywood, also discounted robbery as a motive, saying that monks never wear jewelry.

He was among those who traveled to Phoenix to discuss the future of the temple. “We’re not angry, we’re just sorry,” he said.

Chayathummo said he is certain volunteers will be found to fill the Phoenix posts in the near future. Those killed were among the best and most promising of Thai monks, he said.