CONFESSED Phuket killer Ronald Fanelli is undergoing a psychiatric examination at his own request. He is expected to return to Phuket Prison from a hospital in Surat Thani as soon as his testing is complete.

Mr Fanelli has been undergoing the process since early in September, Phuketwan has learned. The results of the examination could play a key part in any eventual trial for the murder of Phuket bar hostess Wanpen Pianchai.

Mr Fanelli, a former US Navy officer and a poker player of international standing who used the nom de plume ''Mad Yank,'' requested the psychiatric examination and was tranferred to Surat Thani from Phuket about three weeks ago.

Clearly, Mr Fanelli remains disconcerted by his capacity to kill. Khun Wanpen, a hostess at the Sweethearts Bar in Karon, was naked when she was stabbed twice, in the back and the chest.

Mr Fanelli, 37, from New York, stuffed the naked body of the slightly-built mother off two into a travel bag and dumped it by a remote roadside on Phuket, where it was discovered six days later. Khun Wanpen disappeared on June 18 but was not killed until 24 hours later.

What happened in those 24 hours is probably the key to Mr Fanelli's psychiatric examination.

Although there were few clues to the identity of the bearded stranger seen riding off on a motorcycle with Khun Wanpen, Phuket police managed to trace Mr Fanelli and arrested him four weeks later. The only account of the circumstances of the period leading up to the murder and the murder itself is the one provided by Mr Fanelli, and no detailed account has been disclosed.

In a deal with police, Mr Fanelli admitted his guilt, and under the arrangement, asked for the complete account of what he said occurred not to be revealed. Mr Fanelli went through a reenactment of the crime, returning to the Sweetheart Bar then to his Phuket City house, where the murder took place.

Three months on, there seem to be as many questions still in the mind of Mr Fanelli as there are among his friends and observers.

In a column in a British newspaper after Mr Fanelli's arrest, Victoria Coren wrote: ''My old poker friend Ron Fanelli never seemed 'pretty quiet,' He was a noisy guy, opinionated. He broke all the rules of London poker etiquette by turning up at the casino, six or seven years ago, and sounding off right from the start. But I forgave him all the noise, because he was American. He was funny. I liked him.

''When I hosted a series on the Poker Channel, a niche chat show with poker players as guests, I invited Ron to take part in several episodes because he was entertaining and outspoken. One episode had the theme of 'table manners': what is and is not acceptable behavior in a poker game. My opening question was: 'Ron, what is the worst thing you've ever done?'

''Ron replied: 'Me? I'm an angel. I've never done anything bad. Well, I guess I've made a few people cry. I don't like getting unlucky. There was that time I told everyone at the table I hoped they'd die of cancer. Other than that, I've never done anything bad.''

In the intervening years, what changed for Mr Fanelli? He told Phuketwan after his arrest, at the police media presentation in Phuket City, that he was being fairly treated by police. He still seemed disoriented and shocked about his capacity to kill.

Phuketwan followed up: ''Mr Fanelli, have you admitted your guilt in this case?''

He replied: ''I have made a full statement of what happened. I don't want to go into it. I killed her. To gain the full context, you would have to read the full story. It was wrong. It was a horrible, horrible accident, in my opinion. I never intended to do any harm to this person.''

The question we would have asked if there had been a little more time was: ''Well then, how did you come to kill her?'' Mr Fanelli may well be pondering the answer to that in Surat Thani.

A photograph of Victoria Coren and Ron Fanelli and her complete column can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/25/ron-fanelli-wanphen-pienjai-poker