PATTAYA — A court has sentenced an Australian man to death for the murder of a countryman who was an alleged confederate in a drug smuggling gang.
The Pattaya Provincial Court on Tuesday found Antonio Bagnato, 28, guilty of killing former Hells Angels member Wayne Schneider in November 2015 after he and accomplices beat and kidnapped the victim from his luxury villa in the resort area. Bagnato fled to Cambodia where he was arrested soon after the crime.
Eyewitness accounts and DNA evidence from bloodstains and weapons linked Bagnato to the crime. American Tyler Gerard, 22, who confessed to involvement in the abduction and aided police, was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Thai police say Bagnato murdered Schneider because of a dispute over their drug trafficking.
Story: Jason Corben
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