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Phuket Kickbox 'Killer' Caught at British Airport: Hunt on Phuket for Accomplices, 5 Million Baht Added to Bank Account
By Chutima Sidasathian Friday, August 27, 2010
WANTED Phuket murder suspect Lee Aldhouse, accused of the cowardly killing of former US Marine DaShawn Longfellow, has been arrested at a British airport, police said today.
Officers on Phuket were this afternoon attempting to begin extradition proceedings to have the 28-year-old professional kickboxer returned to Thailand to stand trial. He could be back on Phuket within five days, Phuketwan has been told.
Phuket police maintained that he was probably still on the island but Aldhouse escaped and flew to Britain from Singapore, via Cambodia. He was arrested in Britain on Tuesday, August 24, Phuket police say.
Aldhouse apparently left Thailand via Khlong Yai immigration in Trat province for Cambodia on August 17. The crossing, on the Gulf of Thailand at the southern extremity of Thailand's border, does not have access to the Immigration computer data base.
It is believed Aldhouse then proceeded to Singapore - probably via the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh - and boarded the flight bound for London.
Officers on the island admitted today that lack of new technology at some Thai border crossings could allow other international fugitives to escape. The crossing used by Aldhouse to reach Cambodia is more than 1300 kilometres by road from Phuket.
One officer familiar with the investigation said today that a careful watch had been kept on a bank account belonging to Aldhouse. The account was topped up with five million baht before Aldhouse fled Thailand, but no withdrawals had been made.
Phuket police had also said they were keeping a careful watch over Aldhouse's Thai girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother. They now say they will trace Aldhouse's movements in Thailand and punish any accomplices who helped him escape.
The murder took place before dawn on Phuket on August 14 after Aldhouse lost a fist fight with 23-year-old Longfellow at the Freedom Bar in southern Phuket.
Aldhouse allegedly went to a local 7-Eleven store where he picked up two fruit knives, then stabbed Longfellow to death as the American returned to his nearby apartment.
Phuket Police Lieutentant Jarat Bangprasert, who is based at the southern Phuket station of Chalong, confirmed Aldhouse's arrest this afternoon.
The British Embassy in Bangkok was unable to add information because it is closed every Friday afternoon.
For security camera footage of the alleged killer in a Phuket 7-Eleven store, brought to you by Phuketwan and CNN, go to:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/17/thailand.kickboxing.killer/?hpt=T2#fbid=j8b3WNTelG3&wom=false
Last month, Phuket City police successfully arrested another expat murder suspect, American Ronald Fanelli, after Fanelli had been hiding out on the island for four weeks and a day.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
@ Mike: I agree. Not a good move to write that down. They better have a proper data base installed there immediately. Another question on my mind is, how he could get on that flight to the UK without a passport. Remember I read that his passport was found at his house in Phuket...
Posted by
Becky
on
August 27, 2010 15:55
Dear Editor,
Thanks for all the details..
Did the immigration not have a photo of him? No computer? Another reminder we are in a developing nation. One has to wonder why he went home, though? Stupid him.
Lot of loss of face here........
Posted by
Vfaye
on
August 27, 2010 16:06
I don't think your 5 million Baht claim is at all credible because:
1) The case officer denies it
2) Aldhouse comes from an impoverished background, who's going to give him 5 million baht?
3) why would he return tp england if he had 5 mil in the bank in Thailand?
I will be happy to be proved wrong, with the emphasis here on 'prove'.
Posted by
James Goyder
on
August 27, 2010 17:48
Editor Comment:
As a reporter working on this story, you really should declare your conflict of interest before questioning our report. From what we hear, you've been applying pressure on police to match Phuketwan's account. Good luck!
I believe I read they 'guaranteed' that this loser would not leave the island. Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk. Please learn from this and make the necessary changes. If convicted, it will be great to know he is rotting behind bars.
Posted by
Jon
on
August 27, 2010 18:21
Sad thing is that foreign people in jail is not allowed to work, do they need work permit ? ;p
My question is, how can you board a plane destined for the UK if your passport is on a list of people that they are looking for, was he not on Interpol's list ?
Posted by
Anders
on
August 27, 2010 18:24
Editor Comment:
There is no indication yet of the details of the journey. All possibilities remain open.
Everyone knows I work for the Phuket Gazette, it's hardly a secret. If asking the case office to corroborate something I read here constitutes putting pressure on him then yes, I have done that.
Posted by
James Goyder
on
August 27, 2010 19:20
Editor Comment:
No harm in chasing a better story, and those readers who follow sport on Phuket would certainly recognise your byline. However, that's not ''everyone.'' We're standing by our report.
I think the Phuketwan reporting is always juicer, better informed and less formal than the Gazette. Its certainly more up to date, and with pictures...keep up the good work
Posted by
Ivan
on
August 27, 2010 21:02
Dear Mr. James Goyder
It is my understanding that Phuket Gazette does have a policy NOT to report too much crime or too 'sensitive' issues happen in Phuket.
If I am wrong, - which could be - ; then I wonder why most of the time crime etc. is reported first or ONLY on the PhuketWan Website and not at Phuket Gazette!
Is it a lack of efficiency or the result of your companies policy?
Please ask your company to focus on Queer News etc.
Whenever i did send a solid, but 'sensitive' issue to your Q&A section I not even got a reply over the past years!
Phuket-Wan! - Keep it up! Well done!
Posted by
Mr. K
on
August 27, 2010 21:06
Mr. Goyder, thanks for the unintentional comedy, this little cat fight puts a hop in my step this evening.
Congratulations editor, you have often been accused of getting on your readers nerves, it seems you have moved on to the competition. Ah, just makes me giggle.
Posted by
Ya Think Doctor?
on
August 27, 2010 21:15
HI Phuket Wan. Just to let you know, I read both the Gazette and the PhuketWan news.
PhuketWan has more stories with pictures to boot and the reporting seems to be more accurate.
You keep up the good reporting. Can we possibly have a hot-line number to call if we see something newsworthy, then you can send a reporter ?
Good work. Bravo.
Posted by
Graham
on
August 27, 2010 21:35
It's Thai Immigration's fault he got away, not Phuketwan's for publishing how. But he's caught. They say he'll be extradited but last time I checked all Brits cover all Brits, there's no way he'd be back here under any of his countrymen's watch. Just like they helped him escape Thailand even though he murdered someone, it wasn't a Brit, so out he went. .
Posted by
JingJing
on
August 27, 2010 22:36
James Goyder, my apologies for not knowing who you are. My fault entirely.
Apart from that, will be interested to find out how he (Aldhouse, not Goyder) could board that plane to the UK.
Posted by
Michael
on
August 27, 2010 22:40
How did he manage to board a flight bound for Singapore, then onward to London if he did not have his passport?
Seems like there was a security lapse in Changi Airport. Singapore is known for tight security, catching criminals who are in transit or trying to flee etc, but they didn't find anything suspicious about this man... was he on Interpol or on a wanted list of criminals?!
Posted by
Nate
on
August 28, 2010 01:10
Editor Comment:
There's the possibility a fake passport was used. We just don't know enough yet to do more than speculate about his journey.
Does any one know,how the Cambodian authorities eg Immigration allowed him out of the country? did he buy his own flight tickets etc?.
Could they have possibly turned a blind eye or even helped...There is no love lost at the moment between,Thailand and Cambodia..lets see what comes out in the wash..will be interesting..
Posted by
barka
on
August 28, 2010 07:55
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Britain doesn't extradite criminals to countries that have the death penalty.
Posted by
Antz Pantz
on
August 28, 2010 08:20
Can the family in America take action?
Posted by
Vfaye
on
August 28, 2010 11:42
Editor Comment:
There is not indication that they need to take action.
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phukets-kickbox-killing-stalker-struck-dark-12849/
Think if you will read this article it says the police had a copy of his passport not his actual passport, if you are going to go on the run its the first thing you would grab.
Glad he has been caught anyway.
Posted by
Michael
on
August 28, 2010 12:48
Extradition from UK to a country with the death penalty? Get yourself a new lawyer, K. Lee
Posted by
Ripley
on
August 28, 2010 13:26
Police hardly inform anyone when they are looking for someone outside of their area. As for being in Interpol, he's not an international criminal. He was hunted as a suspect for a murder, NOT convicted as of yet.
Once out of this country, no one in any other country will try and stop you. He was stopped in the UK because they were informed (since he is a British citizen). If he had gone to another European country he may also have been detained, but not necessarily.
As for being extradited to Thailand, not a chance, as for being convicted of the crime in England, unlikely. Plus if I remember, you had this discussion about he shouldn't be in Thailand because he killed another Foreigner, so Thailand doesn't want to take responsibility for it. I think America may have something to say, though.
Posted by
Tbs
on
August 28, 2010 19:49
Editor Comment:
Most of the messages about international cooperation these days are far more positive than you suggest. Murderers, rapists, pedophiles, even fraudsters, no longer have reason to sleep undisturbed, except in very uncomfortable places.
No excuse for the Thai authorities to claim Aldhouse's details weren't on their central database, a picture circulated with a passport number to all 'remote' border crossings might have deterred any attempt to flee. As for why he returned to the UK, better to face a lesser charge there (there was an outstanding warrant for him - broke bail conditions perhaps?) than face a murder charge in Thailand, I'd say.
Posted by
Shane
on
August 30, 2010 09:36
Editor Comment:
Have the Thai authorities said Aldhouse wasn't on their central database? That would be surprising. What they have said is that there was no connection to the data base at the border crossing into Cambodia.
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Well now everyone knows where to get outa Thailand!
Posted by mike on August 27, 2010 14:58