American who killed Australian tourist in Pattaya bar fight has murdered before

[webfact]

American who killed Australian tourist in Pattaya bar fight has murdered before

 

Benjamin Robb                                                                                        Jose Manuel Polanco Jr

 

The American man who killed an Australian tourist in a brutal bar fight in Pattaya has murdered before.

 

Jose Manuel Polanco Jr, has been charged with the manslaughter of Australian Benjamin Robb who died after the pair fought in the Ruby Club on Soi 6, has a previous conviction for murder.

 

According to news.com.au, Polanco was charged with second degree murder by North Miami Police in 1993, when he was still a teenager.

 

According to court documents Polanco killed Michael Cooper following a dispute over $20.

 

“[He] told detectives where he disposed of the murder weapon, which was not recovered, and where he disposed of his own bloody clothing, which was recovered,” news.com.au cite court documents as stating.

 

Polanco was sentenced to 12 years in prison but was released after two years when his charge was downgraded to manslaughter with a firearm. He then spent the next five years on probation.

 

On Monday, police in Pattaya released details of the incident which resulted in the death of Benjamin Robb.

 

Pol Col Apichai Krobpetch said Robb picked a waitress up by the neck until her feet were off the ground.

 

Polanco took exception and began punching, kicking and stamping on the head of Robb until he was unconscious.

 

Robb was taken to Pattaya Memorial Hospital where died in the early hours of Saturday morning.

 

Polanco, who handed himself in to police, has admitted punching Robb “4 or 5 times” but says he acted in self defence.

 

The case is due to go to court later this month.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-02-13

 

[colinneil]

Polanco said it was self defence, yet he has killed before.

Sounds like a total nutter who should be locked up for life.

[LennyW]

Seems he has a short fuse.....

[ezzra]

One man is a convicted murder, the deceased is a known trouble maker and a bully, what a fine

specimen of human being Pattaya is attracting, almost safe enough to have our monthy

church meetings there...

[CockneyGit]

And yet this man can get a visa to enter Thailand no problem. Well done Immigration, keep up the good work..!!

 

[worgeordie]

Lets hope he gets more than 2 years this time,

2 years for a life,that's ridiculous,and him pleading 

self defense,when he was the one who confronted

the other over ill treatment of a waitress.

regards worgeordie

[4MyEgo]

Stone the crows, this dipstick is a time bomb that was waiting to explode, he has done it before and has done it again, few brain cells missing up top.

 

Who knows how many other people he has beaten up.

 

The deceased picked up a waitress by the neck until her feet were off the ground, the Thai's would have dealt with him if the Aussie was that big of a threat, but no, good ol Captain America had to weigh in, and now another person is dead.

 

Straight to a Thai jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, rot in prison, where you should have served your first full term of 12 years and not been released after 2 years, because you learnt nothing, to add, when a bloke is down, you back off, something you don't get, that's why he's dead, like I said, your a time bomb, tick tock, off the streets, go off in jail all you like mate.

[jak2002003]

He only got 2 years for murder before?!  I bet the family of the murdered guy did not feel like they got justice.  

[Wiggy]

35 minutes ago, CockneyGit said:

And yet this man can get a visa to enter Thailand no problem. Well done Immigration, keep up the good work..!!

 

Precisely. While many of us have to report every 90 days having never even got so much as a traffic ticket in my entire life.

[jvs]

40 minutes ago, CockneyGit said:

And yet this man can get a visa to enter Thailand no problem. Well done Immigration, keep up the good work..!!

 

And yet a country that knows of his criminal past lets him have a passport and travel!!!!!Well done very advanced western country keep up the good work.They seem to let anybody out but try to get in!!!

Edited February 13, 2018 by jvs

[jvs]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

One man is a convicted murder, the deceased is a known trouble maker and a bully, what a fine

specimen of human being Pattaya is attracting, almost safe enough to have our monthy

church meetings there...

Looks like karma caught up with both of them.A few threads running and this news gives the story a   whole new twist.

Edited February 13, 2018 by jvs

[Darcula]

Clearly a quality tourist.

 

Amazing Thailand - always open to the new shadys.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Darcula

[daoyai]

2 minutes ago, jvs said:

And yet a country that knows of his criminal past lets him have a passport and travel!!!!!

Did his time  (not enough) ... no legal reason to deny a passport.  30 day entry visa exempt...  and here we are, statistically the number of violent tourists must be low, relax.

[jvs]

51 minutes ago, CockneyGit said:

And yet this man can get a visa to enter Thailand no problem. Well done Immigration, keep up the good work..!!

 

Please read post number 13,so who is really to blame?Sorry i do not know how to place to quotes in one post.

The real guilty one is the killer?Yes i do believe so and now he will pay the price.

[Get Real]

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

Polanco said it was self defence, yet he has killed before.

Sounds like a total nutter who should be locked up for life.

I guess he will have a better chance of a long prison stay in Thailand. We can hope for anything between 15-20 years. Hopefully! 

[White Christmas13]

Funny yesterday every body was blaming the Aussie guy without knowing the facts

[UncleE]

Looks like both scumbags, made for each other.   End of story.   Not feeling too sorry for the deceased anymore.

[Destiny1990]

One of them death and the other one will be locked up for very long.

I glad that also this story has an happy ending  for us.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Destiny1990

[UncleE]

In fact picking up the waitress by the head until her feet were off the ground is a nasty thing to do.   So I'd say the American guy was just neutralizing an idiot, helping the girl out.   And .......

[twizzian]

So the charge has already been downgraded to Manslaughter.

Stamping repeatedly on a persons head is surely an act of wanting to kill!

Pattaya has now become Thug capital of Thailand.

[maxtingtong]

Self defense killing someone while 'saving' a bargirl in the workplace..

Waiting for the one popping up with 'his name doesn't really sound american'

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

One man is a convicted murder, the deceased is a known trouble maker and a bully, what a fine

specimen of human being Pattaya is attracting, almost safe enough to have our monthy

church meetings there...

Nonsense post. Could have been any city in the world who all have their bar fights. Just an opportunity for some jungle-dweller to jealously knock Pattaya.

[Baerboxer]

6 minutes ago, UncleE said:

In fact picking up the waitress by the head until her feet were off the ground is a nasty thing to do.   So I'd say the American guy was just neutralizing an idiot, helping the girl out.   And .......

 

And went way beyond the realms of reasonable force as he was a pissed up, maybe with other drugs too, violent ex-con who murdered before. 

 

And........ now hopefully will receive a long present sentence. 

[kjun12]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

Polanco said it was self defence, yet he has killed before.

Sounds like a total nutter who should be locked up for life.

Thankfully there are courts where a person is given a right to justice that you would take away.

[Baerboxer]

Just now, kjun12 said:

Thankfully there are courts where a person is given a right to justice that you would take away.

 

 And hopefully the victim will have a right to justice as someone has already taken his life away!

[dcsw53]

Obviously one of those dream tourists Thailand is so keen to attract.

Thailand can thank him by letting him stay here 25+ years.

Des res near Bangkok, 10 friends to share the room with ( sorry no sea views ) and use of the bucket twice a day, if he stays out of trouble.

Who could want for more ?

[Emster23]

So how is that "good guys in, bad guys out" program working for you, immigration?

[chrisinth]

Nothing like a bit of history to really charge and sentence someone without anyone really knowing the facts of what happened in Ruby's that evening. So many versions of the story going around.

 

His previous conviction happened 25 years ago. Has he really been a risk to the public for the last 23 years? If that were the case would the onus then be on his home country to neutralize that risk and prevent travel to other countries? Always believed in innocent until proven guilty. Without influence. But that's just me.

 

For clarity, if he indeed was involved in stamping when the Aussie was down, fair enough, let him pay for it to the fullest extent of the law, But let that judgement be made with the full facts present and in a court of law.

[suzannegoh]

Wouldn't "self defence" imply that the killer was attacked?  Defending the honor of a fair maiden does not constitute self-defence in most countries.  And from the looks of that guy in the photo accompanying this story, I have a hard time believing that people routinely pick a fight with him.

Edited February 13, 2018 by suzannegoh

[Headgame]

Really? Self defense from what exactly?

That will be a very challenging defense in these circumstances, if we've got the whole story at this point.