MURDERED ex-pat Jim Green may have had an earlier run-in with his brutal killers, police said yesterday.

The retired engineer, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, who died after being knocked on the head, shot and stabbed four times in his chest, had scared intruders away from his property in Thailand the previous night.

His wife, Yukhonporn, yesterday told The National newspaper that teenagers had tried to steal things from their riverside property, outside the village of Ratchaburi, near Bangkok, on Friday night.

Mr Green, 63, reportedly fired a sling-shot at the intruders and chased them off.

Police are investigating the possibility that these youths were the same two that entered the £140,000 house the following evening.

Yesterday, Mrs Green described how she was chased by two men when she returned home on Saturday.

"I tried to run but they caught me at the gate. At that moment, I knew they had killed my husband," she said.

"They put a gun to my head and said, 'Shut up or we will kill you'. They then pushed my head down so I could not see their faces and brought me into the house."

Mrs Green said she was then bound up and tied to a gazebo, while the killers demanded to know where her valuables were kept.

She was later driven away from the property and dumped unharmed.

All that was stolen from the property was a video-CD player and a cash card - from which they managed to withdraw more than £1,000.

Thai police believe that the murder was predetermined and continued to question Mrs Green and her close relatives yesterday. They have not ruled out the possibility that it was a contract killing, disguised as a robbery.

Mr Green's elderly mother, Mary, and his five brothers and sisters flew out to Thailand yesterday, leaving their own loved ones at home in Ripon to come to terms with the shocking news.

His sister-in-law, Carol Green, said: "They don't really know where they are going or what they are going to find there, but they just wanted to get out there as quickly as possible.

"They will probably stay in a hotel and spend time with his wife and her family."