PHUKET: Kickboxer Lee Aldhouse is to be extradited to Thailand to face trial for the murder on Phuket of former US Marine Dashawn Longellow, a British newspaper is reporting.
The Daily Mirror says a government source told them: ''The only way he could have realistically avoided extradition is if he would have faced the death penalty if found guilty. But the Thai Government have assured us that he will not.''
Aldhouse, 28, has 14 days in which to appeal.
The stabbing murder of Longfellow, 23, became a notorious case on Phuket as a manhunt was launched for his suspected killer.
Aldhouse was arrested at London's Heathrow airport a few days after the mid-August murder, having made his escape via Cambodia and a flight from Singapore.
Prosecution authorities in Bangkok are likely to be delighted with the precedent-setting decision by British Home Secretary Theresa May.
Once it is officially confirmed, Longfellow's family and friends in the US and on Phuket will be vastly relieved.
Prison conditions in Thailand were believed to be what caused the decision to run past the normal two months for a Home Secretary to decide whether an extradition is appropriate.
Phuket Prison is overcrowded with conditions well below international standards.
Authorities in Thailand will be anxiously awaiting a decision on whether Aldhouse chooses to appeal, a move that could mean a delay in the process or worse, extradition being refused.
Aldhouse, known as the Pitbull, picked a fight with Longfellow at the Freedom Bar in Rawai, a southern beachside spot on Phuket. Having lost the fight, Phuket police believe, Aldhouse collected two knives from a nearby 7-Eleven store and ambushed the former Marine when he returned to his apartment.
Phuketwan has posted dramatic footage of a man who looks like Lee Aldhouse obtaining two knives from a 7-Eleven store shortly before Mr Longfellow was stabbed to death. View the footage at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvuYakEINGg
CNN coverage with Phuketwan can be viewed at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/17/thailand.kickboxing.killer/?hpt=T2#fbid=j8b3WNTelG3&wom=false
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Well if its in the Daily Mirror it must be true :P. Seriously though, he will probably appeal this all the way to the High Court and if that doesn't work there's the European Court of Human Rights. I'd be very surprised if he ever sets foot in a Thai prison.
Posted by chrisT on September 4, 2011 09:37