Biloxi murder suspect out of prison just four months for heinous attack on different woman

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - A man accused of stabbing a woman to death in Biloxi over the weekend is no stranger to the legal system in Mississippi.

Pitipong Daengbunga, 37, was arrested Feb. 5 after a welfare check led officers to the body of Jamie Boggs. The 42-year-old woman from Pennsylvania had been stabbed multiple times, said Harrison County Coroner Brian Switzer.

Daengbunga was arrested shortly after and is now charged with first-degree murder in the death.

The details of what happened inside that apartment on Rodenberg Avenue have not yet been made public, but we are learning more about the suspect’s violent history and tormented mental health, as well as the justice system that put him back on the streets.

Just four months before Jamie Boggs was murdered, Daengbunga was released from prison after being convicted of a heinous attack in Jones County involving a woman he was in a romantic relationship with.

On Dec. 18, 2015, sheriff’s deputies were called to a home to investigate a domestic dispute at a home in Jones County. When deputies arrived, they were met with a gruesome scene. Daengbunga was covered in blood and found on top of the woman. Her eyeball had been gouged out, her nose had been bitten off, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness, said police reports.

The victim would later tell police that Daengbunga was laughing as he hit and clawed at her, then hit her multiple times in the head with a very large rock.

Police arrested Daengbunga, charging him with Attempt to Commit First Degree Murder. That charge, however, was later reduced to Domestic Aggravated Assault.

In April 2018, Daengbunga pled guilty to Domestic Aggravated Assault for the vicious attack in Jones County. He was sentenced to 13 years with 10 of those to serve full-time in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The remaining three years were suspended with the successful completion of post-release supervision.

Instead, Daengbunga spent a total of 2,118 days in prison, which is just under six years. In October 2021, court documents show that he was released on parole on an Early Release Supervision program.

That program allows an offender to serve a percentage of their sentence, which is typically 85% of the sentence with the remaining 15% being eligible to be served on ERS.

A search of MDOC’s inmate records shows that Daengbunga was transferred to an MDOC center in Harrison County on Jan. 20, 2022 – 16 days before the Biloxi murder took place.

According to MDOC’s website, the only state facility in Harrison County is a work center that has been closed since May 29, 2020. It’s not clear why Daengbunga is listed as being transferred to a Harrison County facility last month. That MDOC record also shows his tentative release date as Sept. 16, 2022.

It’s not the first time Daengbunga has been charged with Domestic Aggravated Assault. He was charged with the same crime just four days before the vicious 2015 attack in Jones County for a separate assault involving the same victim.

According to a report from the Laurel Leader-Call in 2015, it was the third domestic charge against Daengbunga, noting that he had two previous convictions by the same victim in Jackson County the year before.

That same report noted that the victim posted a $10,000 bond to get him out of jail after the first December attack. That domestic charge stemmed from a fight he and the victim had while he was playing a video game on a Sony Playstation while she was on the phone.

She told police she was taking pictures with her phone when he started laughing and hitting her with his fists. He reportedly told investigators that playing the game made him begin “thinking of past events with the victim that made him angry,” so he kneed her in the face, choked her and slammed her head into the wall.

Prior to the two incidents in December 2015, Jones County authorities said they investigated only one other report of domestic assault between the couple nine months prior in March 2015. That matter was dropped when the victim refused to sign charges, according to court records.

In an apology letter marked as evidence and dated one month after the December 2015 attack, Daengbunga wrote that he was truly sorry, saying: “This is not who I am. I will from this day forward be a better person. No matter what life has in store for me.”

After the 2015 arrests, Daengbunga underwent multiple psychological evaluations, revealing a history of mental illness spurred on by other incidents in his life.

Daengbunga is a native of Thailand who has been in the U.S. since he was a junior in high school. According to military records, he received an honorable discharge from the Armed Forces in 2010.

It was in 2008 shortly after Daengbunga returned from deployment to Iraq that his mental health began going down, said his mother. According to a statement from her, Daengbunga’s wife died the year before in a car accident while he was driving the vehicle. Shortly after, his mother said he began hearing voices, talking to himself, and acting erratically.

An arrest report goes back to 2008 and includes charges for malicious mischief, threatening crime with intent to terrorize by exhibiting a deadly weapon, simple assault, simple domestic violence and two charges related to being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Daengbunga was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and PTSD and was in the hospital multiple times to be treated for his mental health conditions.

While in the custody of MDOC, the court ordered that Daengbunga continue to be taken to the Biloxi VA each month to receive medication and treatment for his conditions.

Daengbunga is currently incarcerated at Harrison County Adult Detention Center, where he is charged with one count of homicide. A $1 million bond was set for that charge. However, he is not eligible to bond out due to a hold placed on him by MDOC for violating the terms of the Earned Release Supervision program that allowed Daengbunga to be released from prison.

Daengbunga is still awaiting his initial appearance before the Harrison County Justice Court.

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