Thai police say they have arrested an American man and a Thai woman over the kidnapping and murder of an Australian man whose body is thought to be that found in a shallow grave in eastern Thailand.
Wayne Rodney Schneider, 37, a former Hells Angels bikie member from NSW, had been kidnapped by a group of masked men early on Monday morning from his rented villa at the seaside town of Pattaya, 150 kilometres from Bangkok.
A naked, tattooed body, believed to be Schneider's, was recovered from a shallow, sandy grave by a roadside in Sattahip Province in Chonburi on Tuesday, close to where he had been initially taken.
Late on Wednesday, Thai police said they had arrested a 21-year-old American man, identified as Tyler Joseph Fulton Sheen Gerard, at a Thai immigration checkpoint as he attempted to enter Cambodia.
Gerard was among a list of suspects wanted in connection with the kidnapping of Schneider.
Also detained was the Thai wife of 26-year old Australian, Antonio Bagnato, who allegedly led the kidnapping gang.
Thai media reports quoting immigration officials said Bagnato had fled Thailand but investigators told AAP Bagnato's whereabouts were still unclear.
Police located Schneider's body by tracking the movements of a rented pick-up truck using the vehicle's GPS system.
The Thai woman, whose name has been withheld, had rented the utility used to transport Schneider but told police she was unaware of any plan to abduct and kill him.
Police said Schneider had been living in Pattaya for about a month and shared the villa with Amad Malkoun, a former head of Australia's criminal Comancheros biker gang.
Malkoun told Thai media Schneider, Bagnato and himself had been drinking before the kidnapping and had returned to the villa. He said he had not heard anything of the kidnapping despite police finding blood and bullet castings there.
Australian bikie gangs are reported to have links with Thai drug trafficking and other illegal businesses.
Police authorities says the motive for the kidnapping and murder of Schneider remained unclear.
Share
