A chilling news story shook the seaside resort of Pattaya. The court sentenced a member of the Outlaws motorcycle club to death, a sentence later commuted to life imprisonment, while two of his accomplices received life in prison for the brutal murder of a German national.
Last July, horror struck Pattaya with the discovery of the dismembered body of Hans Peter Walter Mack, 62, locked in a freezer. This widely publicized crime shocked public opinion.
The three main defendants – two Germans and a naturalized Thai Pakistani – were arrested shortly afterwards. According to investigators, they kidnapped their victim before murdering him in order to steal his money. A careful investigation traced a transfer of 3.35 million baht from the victim's account to that of one of the suspects.
During the trial, two of the accused eventually admitted their involvement, confessions which led the court to commute their death sentences to life imprisonment. The third accused, on the other hand, persisted in proclaiming his innocence.
A fourth individual, also of German nationality, was found guilty of money laundering and receiving stolen goods. He received a six-year prison sentence for his part in transferring funds from the murder.
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