Detectives: Love triangle may be behind double homicide in Fresno County

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A man accused of killing his wife and the couple's friend in Fresno County is now in jail, and detectives say a perceived love triangle appears to be the motive.

Leuth Sengsongkham, 59, turned himself in at the police department in Henderson, Nev. He's accused of killing his wife and a man he suspected was her lover.

"Throughout my history there's been a number of crimes where spouses have committed violence or actually killed each other. It's one of those things that has prompted our society to have such strict domestic violence and firearms laws," said Lt. Rick Ko of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.

The two victims, 58-year-old Somkeo Thongkhamvilay and 47-year-old Rattama Choumramamy, were found shot to death in a dirt field near Chestnut and Adams avenues on Saturday night. Deputies were originally responding to a welfare check when they came across the two people who had been dead for several hours. Investigators immediately started searching for Sengsongkham, who was already on his way to Nevada.

"We actually put out a bulletin across the state and into Nevada, alerting the other jurisdictions of the type of crime we were investigating and the suspect," said Ko. "He actually ended up turning himself in to the Henderson Police Department for an unknown reason, and we sent homicide detectives through our Air Support Unit to interview him today."

The murder victims are the first two homicide victims of the year in Fresno County.

Sengsongkham will soon have an extradition hearing so he can be brought back to Fresno County and be charged with double murder.