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Sign at the southern Phuket police station that led the Aldhouse manhunt

Photo by phuketwan.com

Phuket Awaits Extradition of Kickbox Killing Suspect

By Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian

Saturday, August 28, 2010

UPDATE

The Birmingham Mail reports that Lee Aldhouse was held in London under an old warrant issued for his recall to prison. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ''A 27-year-old man was arrested on Terminal One of Heathrow Airport at 16.55 on Wednesday August 18. He was wanted on warrant for recall to prison and has been returned to the prison service.''

Original Report

POLICE on Phuket are continuing their investigation into the murder of former US Marine DaShawn Longfellow as they await more information from Britain, where his alleged killer is now being held.

According to officers on Phuket, British police have confirmed that professional kickboxer Lee Aldhouse, 28, was apprehended on Tuesday after he arrived at a British airport on a flight from Singapore.

News of the arrest of Aldhouse brought great relief among the expat community on the Thai holiday island, where a manhunt has been underway since Longfellow, 23, was stabbed to death before dawn on August 14.

Little is known about Aldhouse's exact movements or indeed what has transpired since his apprehension. British police have contacted Thai police, and officers in Britain are likely now to be looking in great depth into Aldhouse's activities there.

If as a consequence he is charged with any offence in Britain, that could delay the prospect of an early extradition back to Thailand to face a murder charge in relation to Longfellow's fatal stabbing.

Unlike their Thai counterparts, who usually parade ''big fish'' captives once the basic circumstances of the case have been established, British police are not noted for celebrating the arrest of high-profile suspects.

Phuket police, though, are hoping to have Aldhouse back on the island within weeks, if not days. Much depends now on the speed of the processing of the paperwork.

As soon as Thai authorities lodge a request with the British embassy in Bangkok for Aldhouse's extradition, the case will enter a new phase and become a matter for envoys on both sides.

Diplomatic contacts told Phuketwan today that the fact that a murder conviction in Thailand could carry the death penalty and that Britain no longer supports capital punishment would not necessarily impede the extradition process.

What remains just as valid, though, is the point made by the Phuket manhunt leader, Colonel Vichid Intharasorn - that a British man appears to have killed an American man, yet it is Thailand that will have to bear the complete cost of his trial and his incarceration.

Relations between Britain and Thailand are amicable and a number of British suspects, wanted for serious crimes including rape and pedophilia, have recently been detected in Thailand by local authorities.

Aldhouse had an especially grim and thuggish reputation on Phuket. Earlier this year, he put his Thai girlfriend, whose nickname is ''Fang,'' in hospital with three broken ribs.

''Fang'' is now said to have helped him to escape from Thailand just three days after the murder, apparently across the frontier to Cambodia at a low-tech border crossing, then on to a flight from Singapore to London.

A surge in the number and the seriousness of crimes committed by expats in Thailand has begun to alarm authorities, with two murders on Phuket in the space of weeks.

Greater exchange of information about tourist visitors who have a criminal record has been raised as an issue: the Longfellow murder could help to speed the sharing of national ''blacklists''.

Already Thai police have improved their capacity to deal with transnational crimes, and so far this year Phuket police have succeeded in apprehending suspects wanted in Taiwan, the US, Germany and South Korea.

Manhunt police on Phuket say that despite a humble background, Aldhouse had a bank account that was topped up to five million baht during his escape, although no withdrawals were made.

Officers are investigating allegations that Aldhouse was a drug dealer on Phuket, which would have helped to support a lifestyle that only involved training as a kickboxer.

At times, he is also said to have posed as an American. He also fought some local Thai boxing bouts posing as an Australian, encouraging false cheers from the large Aussie contingents among the holiday audiences.

Phuket Farewells Longfellow on Final Journey
Manhunt Update Heading for Bangkok and a connecting flight to the US is the body of murder victim DaShawn Longfellow, returning home six days after falling victim to a cowardly knife attack.
Phuket Farewells Longfellow on Final Journey

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PHOTO ALBUM Newly viewed footage from inside a Phuket 7 Eleven store shows a man who looks like hunted fugitive Lee Aldhouse demanding knives shortly before a fatal stabbing death.
Phuket Kickbox Killing: Cam Shows 'Man in Black' With Knives

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Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

"Thailand will have to bear the complete cost of his trial and his incarceration."
Not according to the prisoner transfer agreement. See Article 8, in the 'Thailand' agreement here:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/publications-and-documents/treaties/treaty-texts/prisoner-transfer-agreements

Posted by John on August 28, 2010 16:31

It's dreaming to think the UK of all places would allow Aldhouse to be sent to back to Thailand to face charges.

They'll keep him on ice there, emphatically hidden from view for quite some time.

Increasing the resolve of those seeking justice a thousand-fold.

Posted by JingJing on August 28, 2010 22:51

The cost of trial and incarceration is a small price to pay considering the billions of dollars foreigners have brought into the country over the years.

Posted by Antz Pantz on August 28, 2010 23:28

Thailand, means Freeland. this Freedom should not be granted to everyone. Thailand grants to many wrong people a visa for long stay. I read that Lee Aldhouse stayed on a scholar visa. His visa was given for studying Muay Thai. Muay Thai is what the call a Martial Art.

Learning how to fight or defend yourself can easily become how to beat some one of or like we recently have seen worse. No visa should be given for this kind of "study". A background check for everyone who want to stay for long term.

Thailand should not be a Free heaven for criminals from other countries. Let those who have a severe record stay where they come from. If some one comes out of jail, he deserves a second change there, where he served his sentence, or in his home country. Not on different soil.

Such an easy escape to a new life makes it too easy to keep wrong behavior. Nobody from the new local authorities has knowledge from their past. I plead for for data-exchange (sharing background info) for everyone who applies for a visa/ or stays longer then a month. Local authorities should know what kind of fruits they have in their basket.

After 10 years of freedom (socialising) in their home country this "marker" should or could be changed to somewhat lighter. Now we get longterm jailsmen here fresh from prison, not prepared for a return into society, bullying around here. Those guys need special attention and society needs protection.

People should not be allowed based on financial abilities only, but also on deserving because of no 'foul' play in the past. Don't check people only when they are at the border line, let their home countries supply with a paper; "conduct of good behavior", with info of their last 10 years.

Make and Keep Thailand CLEAN.

Posted by ThaiHome on August 29, 2010 10:05

Surely it can't be hard to find out who paid the 5 million into his account and arrest them for helping him escape.

Posted by tony on August 29, 2010 13:00

I'm glad that Aldhouse is captured, It is a bit of a disgrace for Thailand he could get so far. I now first hope that he will have to spend his imprisonment in a Thai jail. But now let us start with prevention.

When I married my Thai wife a few years ago, I had to show a certificate of good conduct. Such a paper should be required from anyone who wants to settle in Thailand (abroad). Let riff-raff stay where they come from and let those who have spend their sentence stay aware that the new guest-country will be notified of their previous wrong doing. If newcomers don't like it, let them stay home.

First society and the innocent need protection and not the other way around. Serious crimes like rape, pedofile, murdering, armed assault, organised crime and so on deserves no limitations in expiring. The new host country should be warned if such a person wants to enter its soil with the intention or the possibility to stay.

Posted by MichaelM on August 29, 2010 16:35

ThaiHome: "Thailand is Freeland. This freedom should not be granted to everyone". On the surface this sounds plausible, it is easy to nod your head and agree. The problem lies in the fact that when you begin to cede the watching of who can and cannot participate, why or why not you let someone in or when the people get their freedoms and when they don't, you also destroy the very freedom you are trying to protect. See: United States of America - Patriot Act

This is a very slippery slope and is why fear is a dangerous weapon when in the hands of authority. Do you want these people making those decisions for you? Yes it is easier for you ... sort of but: If you begin to make exceptions, as in "well lets get information on everyone so we can stop these guys or that guy" you have now given the state the ability to make this choice and draw the lines. What if they decide that your background is undesirable? A former stockbroker comes and kills so we want no more stockbrokers, for example.

Further, part of the reason I love this country is the lack of a watchful eye. For the most part, we do not have big brother probing our every move and recording every thought. You are suggesting that we need government intervention to watch us and protect us from ourselves.

I would hate to see Thailand become like everywhere else. I truly believe that a community can and should be able to protect itself and police itself. I also believe that the responsibility and failure in these exceptional cases lies with the expat community, itself and not the police.

What about all the people (several people have commented on another site that they knew Aldhouse, knew he was dangerous, knew he was crazy) who did nothing to stop the guy? Did nothing to warn others and generally took no responsibility for a member of their own community who was a threat to that community. It is a similar story with Fanelli (the murderer of K. Wanpen). Unless people in the expat community are willing to make some effort to protect that group (something as simple as contacting the UK Embassy perhaps and asking some questions) we will be faced with exactly what you suggest.

I for one hope that people here will not give to government what it can't handle and what it does poorly. I hope and believe that a social group does not need the sort of restrictions and police state environment you suggest. I also want to believe that this guy was the exception and not the rule.

As a society I believe that each individual member, as a part of the whole, has to take an active role in that community. In other words, it is time for those in the expat community to wake up, stop excusing everything as not your duty, start to contribute and actually do something.

In conclusion, I agree with your sentiment. These individuals should not be allowed to terrorize our community and it needs to stop. But I disagree with who is responsible. Be very careful when you start giving up your rights and asking others to take your responsibilities and make your decisions. They will by nature take a lot more than that.

Posted by Ya Think Doctor? on August 29, 2010 17:28

We should consider the sums of money involved with regard to trial and encarceration. Even if the UK does not request repatriation of offenders ( Article 4 (2) in the prisoner transfer agreement quoted above), whether under pressure to or not, the numbers of offenders must be relatively small.

Tourism, to me, appears to be economically equivalent to an export from the visited country. A tourist consumes goods and services (hotels, meals, travel, maybe massage) in the host country, rather than shipping goods and services (maybe other types) home.

Assuming 10 million visitors to Thailand a year, each one spending, say, 1000 USD. That's an export industry of 10 billion USD! Throwing a few extra bodies into the BK Hilton must cost peanuts per year in comparison.

Posted by John on August 30, 2010 14:26

Editor Comment:

The equation is now complicated by the arrest of the alleged perpetrator in his home country. So, presumably, he will sooner or later be returned to Thailand to stand trial then, if sentenced, negotiations will commence for his transfer back to where he is now.

The whole situation is now complicated and interesting. The USA will obviously want to see the perpetrator in this case brought to justice, particularly given the deceased's history of service. The UK will not want to be seen to be dragging its heels in any way.

Thailand, despite this being farang on farang, and so not needing to obtain justice for any of its people, would not want to jeopardise its standing as a 'safe' destination for tourists, and also could not create a precedent, by not prosecuting, which might allow people to bump off their enemies whilst they are on holiday!

Posted by John on August 30, 2010 15:53

There is information on extradition procedures in the UK here:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/police/extradition-intro1/
Thailand is covered under 'part 2 of the 2003 Act'

Posted by John on August 31, 2010 15:20

Regarding extradition laws and the link helpfully posted by John.

Thailand isn't a category 1 territory and never will be.

This guy will not be extradited to Thailand and the process will be delayed or permanently put on hold due to the conditions of Thai prisons.

Posted by Adam on September 1, 2010 22:41

@Adam:
he can be put on trial in Britain. And probably will. If he will be on trial in Thailand, he will serve his sentence most likely in Britain, as that will be most surely a condition of his extradition.

Posted by Lena on September 2, 2010 14:09

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