Brit accused of murdering Thai woman finally extradited from Spain to 'face justice'

[snoop1130]

Laxami Manochat, 31, who Looker picked up on the second night of his holiday (Image: ViralPress)

 

A Brit accused of murdering a Thai woman has finally been extradited to Thailand after years of legal wrangles.

 

Tourist Shane Kenneth Looker, 51, picked up the strip club dancer Laxami Manochat, 31, on the second night of his holiday in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 1, 2014.

 

A murder investigation was launched after Laxami's dismembered body was found stuffed into a suitcase dumped in a river 95 miles away in Kanchanaburi province on November 9.

 

Full Story: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/brit-accused-murdering-thai-woman-24513691

 

-- © Copyright Mirror 2021-07-12

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[scubascuba3]

i wonder why he is being "uncooperative" personally this case is very fishy, he allegedly just meets this girl then kills and dismembers her, what's the motive? most likely a jealous ex boyfriend involved

[RichardColeman]

"I have given strict instructions to avoid any accidents to the suspect's life or property.

 

Love that statement

[rodknock]

well at least Thailand has not exacuted any one in many years.

the bad part is if he is sentenced to death he might wish they did that the way things are in prison.

probably to late for covid vaccination.

[Andylongtime]

He sure was a SHORT TIME tourist????????????

[tonray]

Good Guys Out / Bad Guys In (Long Stay Visa Candidate)

[cardinalblue]

One letter makes a big difference in meaning - executed

[Inala]

That's a shocking death suffered at the hands of someone who is/was deranged enough to perform such an act......poor, poor girl, it would've been horrific.

 

You would think they will need more evidence than CCTV footage to convict him. He might have taken her for short time and then let her out on the street where she could have been picked by any nut job.

 

Is there DNA evidence?

 

How did he get a car and drop her body 95 miles away? If he did, then they must have paper trail evidence of him hiring a car. Maybe the suitcase can be tied to him also by DNA samples....

 

If he has no prior convictions involving violence and all they have is some CCTV footage from 8 days earlier, with no DNA evidence, you would not think there is a strong case against him.

[mvdf]

There must have been overwhelmingly convincing evidence as Spain and the Strasbourg court would otherwise not have agreed to the extradition. The EU is notoriously restrictive on extraditions to non-EU countries.

[malibukid]

life of fish head  soup for this one

[Catoni]

4 hours ago, rodknock said:

well at least Thailand has not exacuted any one in many years.

the bad part is if he is sentenced to death he might wish they did that the way things are in prison.

probably to late for covid vaccination.

Yes, too late for Covid vaccination. 

[4MyEgo]

25 minutes ago, mvdf said:

There must have been overwhelmingly convincing evidence as Spain and the Strasbourg court would otherwise not have agreed to the extradition. The EU is notoriously restrictive on extraditions to non-EU countries.

They convinced the presiding Judge in Spain with the below guarantee.

 

"I have given strict instructions to avoid any accidents to the suspect's life or property. People must trust the legal process to continue correctly.

 

That was obviously the clincher for the Judge.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[kensawadee]

3 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Great news but what disturbs me more is why they cannot use the same amount of energy and determination to bring Boss back to face trial and imprisonment for the killing of a police officer 

Think money....

[Excel]

18 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I've sat chatting with convicted murderers in Bangkok bars (on more than several occasions, and with different people) and didn't have a clue what they were capable of until I either read in the news that they had been arrested or saw arrest warrants on interpol or similar sites. 

 

I also met a convicted murderer in Pattaya who had served his sentence in the UK and was living as an expat with a small business. 

 

People aren't always what they appear to be, especially in Thailand. 

Well what a life of bad acquaintances you surely lead. I can go one better than that though because I have socially been with, in the past, some of the most vile and evil people on the planet - politicians 555

[Mr Meeseeks]

42 minutes ago, mvdf said:

There must have been overwhelmingly convincing evidence as Spain and the Strasbourg court would otherwise not have agreed to the extradition. The EU is notoriously restrictive on extraditions to non-EU countries.

That is assuming the Thai Police did not just make loads of stuff up and insert it into the case file in order to have the extradition request accepted. 

[sanuk711]

4 hours ago, rodknock said:

well at least Thailand has not exacuted any one in many years.

the bad part is if he is sentenced to death he might wish they did that the way things are in prison.

probably to late for covid vaccination.

He can not be sentenced to death---(is that what you meant rodknock--wasn't sure with your post)

 

44 minutes ago, mvdf said:

The EU is notoriously restrictive on extraditions to non-EU countries.

I wonder if the fact that the UK is not EU now had any bearing on that........

[Kerryd]

Pretty sure he can be given a death sentence. However, it has been the practise of the courts to commute it to a life sentence afterwards, or it is done when the next Royal Pardon is issued.

If I recall, I did some research on this just a couple years ago after reading about Michael Karas. A career criminal from Canada who came to Thailand using "stolen" ID and shacked up with a local girl for a year. Then one day they had an argument and he "snapped her neck like a twig", after which he mutilated her face (hoping she wouldn't be recognized then dismembered her body and hauled the pieces to a nearby swamp.

I think that was (or used to be) a death penalty sentence in itself (mutilating/dismembering a corpse).

[Jonathan Swift]

13 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

i wonder why he is being "uncooperative" personally this case is very fishy, he allegedly just meets this girl then kills and dismembers her, what's the motive? most likely a jealous ex boyfriend involved

Me being from a country full of insanely violent people (US) this needn't be any more than a violent man who flew into a rage over some little triggering event, maybe an argument over payment. People who commit violence are not thinking, they are acting.  Maybe he didn't want to pay, and maybe she got too "assertive" in her demands. Maybe they got into a physical fight over it. I think that is the most likely scenario. The dismemberment is just an attempt to cover the evidence, standard practice in the US among psycho killers. It's heinous.

[Acharn]

5 hours ago, rodknock said:

well at least Thailand has not exacuted any one in many years.

the bad part is if he is sentenced to death he might wish they did that the way things are in prison.

probably to late for covid vaccination.

I think Thailand has a treaty with Great Britain to send long-term prisoners to serve their sentences in their home countries. I know they have such a treaty with Australia. Not sure about America, but suppose they do.

[Jonathan Swift]

8 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Pretty sure he can be given a death sentence. However, it has been the practise of the courts to commute it to a life sentence afterwards, or it is done when the next Royal Pardon is issued.

If I recall, I did some research on this just a couple years ago after reading about Michael Karas. A career criminal from Canada who came to Thailand using "stolen" ID and shacked up with a local girl for a year. Then one day they had an argument and he "snapped her neck like a twig", after which he mutilated her face (hoping she wouldn't be recognized then dismembered her body and hauled the pieces to a nearby swamp.

I think that was (or used to be) a death penalty sentence in itself (mutilating/dismembering a corpse).

I suspect that his fate may turn out to be worse than death. A farang who killed a Thai woman sentenced to life in a Thai prison. 

[Jonathan Swift]

1 minute ago, Acharn said:

I think Thailand has a treaty with Great Britain to send long-term prisoners to serve their sentences in their home countries. I know they have such a treaty with Australia. Not sure about America, but suppose they do.

Never heard about it as a US citizen of 64 years, so I don't think so. Should be easy to research

[Misterwhisper]

1 hour ago, Inala said:

That's a shocking death suffered at the hands of someone who is/was deranged enough to perform such an act......poor, poor girl, it would've been horrific.

 

You would think they will need more evidence than CCTV footage to convict him. He might have taken her for short time and then let her out on the street where she could have been picked by any nut job.

 

Is there DNA evidence?

 

How did he get a car and drop her body 95 miles away? If he did, then they must have paper trail evidence of him hiring a car. Maybe the suitcase can be tied to him also by DNA samples....

 

If he has no prior convictions involving violence and all they have is some CCTV footage from 8 days earlier, with no DNA evidence, you would not think there is a strong case against him.

Exactly. You have made very good points, particularly with the transportation issue.

 

But even if he HAS prior convictions for violence, some CCTV footage showing him with the victim proves nothing.

 

The Mirror article talks about an "extensive case file" but doesn't go into detail.

- Was the crime scene identified and can it be tied to the suspect?

- Did the suitcase belong to the suspect and how was that proven?

- Has the vehicle transporting the dismembered body been identified and has evidence been secured?

- Are there witnesses that have seen the suspect in Kanchanaburi?

- And, and, and...

[Ubonhero64]

49 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

Great news but what disturbs me more is why they cannot use the same amount of energy and determination to bring Boss back to face trial and imprisonment for the killing of a police officer 

Money involved  simple answer

[moe666]

12 minutes ago, Acharn said:

I think Thailand has a treaty with Great Britain to send long-term prisoners to serve their sentences in their home countries. I know they have such a treaty with Australia. Not sure about America, but suppose they do.

They have to serve a substantial part of their sentence before eligible

[scubascuba3]

14 minutes ago, Jonathan Swift said:

Me being from a country full of insanely violent people (US) this needn't be any more than a violent man who flew into a rage over some little triggering event, maybe an argument over payment. People who commit violence are not thinking, they are acting.  Maybe he didn't want to pay, and maybe she got too "assertive" in her demands. Maybe they got into a physical fight over it. I think that is the most likely scenario. The dismemberment is just an attempt to cover the evidence, standard practice in the US among psycho killers. It's heinous.

sounds far fetched to me but I guess the truth will come out.........????

[scubascuba3]

12 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

Exactly. You have made very good points, particularly with the transportation issue.

 

But even if he HAS prior convictions for violence, some CCTV footage showing him with the victim proves nothing.

 

The Mirror article talks about an "extensive case file" but doesn't go into detail.

- Was the crime scene identified and can it be tied to the suspect?

- Did the suitcase belong to the suspect and how was that proven?

- Has the vehicle transporting the dismembered body been identified and has evidence been secured?

- Are there witnesses that have seen the suspect in Kanchanaburi?

- And, and, and...

there has been previous threads on this claiming loads of evidence, I'm sceptical. Surprised the article didn't mention any of it, just the basics from an article I read years ago

Edited July 13, 2021 by scubascuba3

[Gandtee]

1 hour ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I've sat chatting with convicted murderers in Bangkok bars (on more than several occasions, and with different people) and didn't have a clue what they were capable of until I either read in the news that they had been arrested or saw arrest warrants on interpol or similar sites. 

 

I also met a convicted murderer in Pattaya who had served his sentence in the UK and was living as an expat with a small business. 

 

People aren't always what they appear to be, especially in Thailand. 

You seem to mix with a strange circle of friends.????

[Gandtee]

15 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

Exactly. You have made very good points, particularly with the transportation issue.

 

But even if he HAS prior convictions for violence, some CCTV footage showing him with the victim proves nothing.

 

The Mirror article talks about an "extensive case file" but doesn't go into detail.

- Was the crime scene identified and can it be tied to the suspect?

- Did the suitcase belong to the suspect and how was that proven?

- Has the vehicle transporting the dismembered body been identified and has evidence been secured?

- Are there witnesses that have seen the suspect in Kanchanaburi?

- And, and, and...

Oh come on! Why are you bringing logical questions into the subject? You ting too mut.????

[robblok]

14 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

i wonder why he is being "uncooperative" personally this case is very fishy, he allegedly just meets this girl then kills and dismembers her, what's the motive? most likely a jealous ex boyfriend involved

Yea sure would not be a fellow Brit and one with the same hobby as you your defending. 

 

The European Court of Human Rights sitting in Strasbourg ruled on May 25 that Looker should be extradited from Spain to face justice in Thailand.

They cited extensive case files submitted by the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok which allegedly proved that Looker was the man who had murdered the Thai woman.

Thai authorities have also reportedly offered assurances required under EU law that Looker will not be mistreated or face the death penalty if found guilty.

 

Seems the European court who has far more information then you and deemed that there is enough evidence. Nothing fishy with a defendant not wanting to speak hoping that there wont be enough evidence. 

 

I hope the evidence is solid and this guy gets his punishment.

[robblok]

25 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

Exactly. You have made very good points, particularly with the transportation issue.

 

But even if he HAS prior convictions for violence, some CCTV footage showing him with the victim proves nothing.

 

The Mirror article talks about an "extensive case file" but doesn't go into detail.

- Was the crime scene identified and can it be tied to the suspect?

- Did the suitcase belong to the suspect and how was that proven?

- Has the vehicle transporting the dismembered body been identified and has evidence been secured?

- Are there witnesses that have seen the suspect in Kanchanaburi?

- And, and, and...

One would say that if an European court deems there is enough evidence then they know a lot more then they are letting on. Maybe the Brits on here should accept the guy is probably guilty and there is enough evidence. 

 

There are the stones that the body was weighed down with same as what he bought, there was the taxi van that transported them both to Kanchanaburi that places him there. DNA under the fingernails of the victim. 

 

Im pretty sure the lazy Thai police would not go through all these hoops if they did not have a good case. Because this time they had to deliver evidence to a European court not just convince a Thai court. Takes a lot more work and far less leeway.