Former Hells Angels bikie found dead in Thailand
THAI police have arrested two suspects believed to be involved in the murder of a former Hells Angels bikie, who was found buried in a shallow grave in Thailand.
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AN American man and a Thai woman have been charged by Thai police over the kidnapping and murder of a former Hells Angels bikie.
The body of Wayne Rodney Schneider was found in a shallow grave in eastern Thailand near where he was abducted at gunpoint by a gang.
Tyler Joseph Fulton Sheen Gerard, 21, was arrested by Thai police at an immigration checkpoint to Cambodia.
The 26-year-old Thai wife of Australian man Antonio Bagnato was also detained. Police will allege Bagnato masterminded the attack before fleeing Thailand.
Investigators told AAP that Bagnato’s whereabouts remain unclear.
Schneider, 38, from NSW, was bashed and dumped in the back of a pick-up truck on Monday morning after a drinking session with Victorian and international underworld heavyweight Jay “Amad’’ Malkoun.
He was found buried by the roadside in a shallow grave in the district of Chonburi province, Thai police say.
It is understood he was shot dead.
Schneider’s body was located by tracking a pick-up truck rented by Bagnato’s wife using its on-board GPS system.
However, the Thai woman told police she was unaware of any plan to abduct and kill Schneider.
“The Australian Embassy in Bangkok is aware of reports that Thai authorities have located what is thought to be the grave of an Australian man earlier reported kidnapped,” the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
“Due to our privacy obligations, we will not comment further.”
Thai police have issued a warrant for the arrest of Bagnato on charges of conspiring to assault and kidnap Schneider, Thai media is reporting.
Bagnato was a business partner with Schneider in a Sydney gymnasium and has been staying in Pattaya.
Witnesses who saw Schneider being abducted told police five masked men drove the former bikie away in the back of a pick-up truck about 5am on Monday in Pattaya.
The Bangkok Post reports Malkoun and another man were out drinking with Schneider on Sunday night in the seaside town, which is dominated by Russian organised crime, before returning early to where they were staying.
Malkoun, 52, is understood to have been interviewed by local police.
It’s understood the two younger men continued to drink when they returned home and was not woken by Schneider’s cries for help as he was bashed in the housing estate.
It has been reported that Malkoun has told Thai police that he slept through the entire ordeal and only learnt from police that Schneider was missing.
Malkoun, who lives in Dubai, was the Comancheros outlaw bikie gang’s Victorian president before he left Australia in 2013.
The Lebanese-born gangster has since developed networks with the Russian mafia and set up a chapter of the Comancheros there.
Schneider was among NSW’s most wanted crime figures in 2006 and has been extensively investigated by police.
Pattaya has become a hangout for foreign criminals and has a thriving sex industry.
Australian outlaw bikie clubs have established strong links to Thailand and have come under police watch.
It is understood Australian Federal Police based in Thailand have been briefed by local police about the investigation.
Thai police found drug paraphernalia in the house where Schneider had been staying with other outlaw bikie gang members, according to reports.
It is understood Schneider and Malkoun may have become friends in Dubai, where Schneider’s Thai wife remains.