Dead man mutilated by lizards

Bangkok (dpa) – Thai police have concluded that monitor lizards

       were the prime suspects in the mutilation of the body of a

       74-year-old man whose legless corpse was discovered near a pond, a

       news report said Wednesday.

          Police have ruled out murder in the case of Wan Saengthong, whose

       badly decomposed upper body was found Tuesday near a roadside pond in

       Plaiklad village, Ayutthaya province, about 60 kilometres north of

       Bangkok.

          Villagers suspected Wen had been murdered and his body cut in

       half, but preliminary forensic examinations indicated he had died

       from natural causes at least a week ago and his lower body had been

       devoured by monitor lizards, the Bangkok Post reported.

          Monitor lizards, which look like small-sized dinosaurs, are

       carnivores and carrion-eaters.

          Police said Wen had been “a lonely old man who had begun to lose

       his memory.” He was often seen walking aimlessly around the village.