American Fanelli Sentenced To 10 Years For Phuket Bar Girl Murder

[webfact]

American Fanelli sentenced to 10 years for Phuket bar girl murder

Phuket expat Ronald Fanelli was sentenced to 10 years in prison for murdering bar girl Wanphen Pienjai and stuffing her body into a suitcase.

Murder victim Wanphen Pienjai had a young daughter at the time of her murder.

PHUKET: -- American Ronald “Mad Yank” Fanelli has been sentenced to 10 years and three months imprisonment for the stabbing murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai last year.

Phuket Provincial Prison Director Rapin Nichanon today confirmed that the court’s decision was handed down on Tuesday.

The sentence will be reduced by the 471 days Fanelli has already been detained, he added.

Fanelli has the right to appeal the decision, although details of the conditions of an appeal have yet to be announced.

“Under policy, Phuket Prison accommodates prisoners serving sentences up to 15 years, so he can stay here if chooses to.

“However, he has the right to contact his embassy and apply to be transferred to another prison, such as one in Bangkok, which would be more convenient for him if he wants to stay in regular contact with embassy officials,” Chief Rapin said.

“He returned from Suan Saranrom Hospital in Surat Thani only a few days ago. This was the second time he was sent there for psychiatric treatment. The first time he spent many months receiving treatment there,” he added.

In March this year, Fanelli told the Phuket Gazette in an exclusive interview that conditions at the overcrowded Phuket Prison were making him ill.

Phuket Prison is currently home to nearly 1,600 prisoners. The facility was originally designed to house about 1,000 inmates.

American Fanelli sentenced to 10 years for Phuket bar girl murder

Phuket expat Ronald Fanelli was sentenced to 10 years in prison for murdering bar girl Wanphen Pienjai and stuffing her body into a suitcase.

Murder victim Wanphen Pienjai had a young daughter at the time of her murder.

PHUKET: American Ronald “Mad Yank” Fanelli has been sentenced to 10 years and three months imprisonment for the stabbing murder of bar hostess Wanphen Pienjai last year.

Phuket Provincial Prison Director Rapin Nichanon today confirmed that the court’s decision was handed down on Tuesday.

The sentence will be reduced by the 471 days Fanelli has already been detained, he added.

Fanelli has the right to appeal the decision, although details of the conditions of an appeal have yet to be announced.

“Under policy, Phuket Prison accommodates prisoners serving sentences up to 15 years, so he can stay here if chooses to.

“However, he has the right to contact his embassy and apply to be transferred to another prison, such as one in Bangkok, which would be more convenient for him if he wants to stay in regular contact with embassy officials,” Chief Rapin said.

“He returned from Suan Saranrom Hospital in Surat Thani only a few days ago. This was the second time he was sent there for psychiatric treatment. The first time he spent many months receiving treatment there,” he added.

In March this year, Fanelli told the Phuket Gazette in an exclusive interview that conditions at the overcrowded Phuket Prison were making him ill.

Phuket Prison is currently home to nearly 1,600 prisoners. The facility was originally designed to house about 1,000 inmates.

During the interview, Fanelli said that overcrowding at the prison had led to a lack of cleanliness that caused him to contract scabies and other infections.

He added that he continued to suffer from “the stress of having to watch out for my own physical safety as well as that of my friends who are weaker than me.”

At a press conference in July last year, Fanelli confessed to killing Miss Pienjai by stabbing her, but said it was an “accident”.

Presented by police at the same press conference were items to be used as evidence to show that Fanelli disposed of Miss Pienjai’s body by stuffing it into a large suitcase – posthumously breaking both of her legs.

He carried the suitcase by motorbike and dumped it in a remote part of Phuket's Wichit sub-district, several kilometers from his rented home.

Fanelli, who was a professional poker player, earned the name “Mad Yank” among fellow players for his often boisterous demeanor.

Columnist Victoria Coren wrote an article in the British newspaper The Guardian, about her friendship with Fanelli when he was participating in poker competitions.

To see video of Ronald Fanelli confessing to the killing of Ms Pienjai, click here.

During the interview, Fanelli said that overcrowding at the prison had led to a lack of cleanliness that caused him to contract scabies and other infections.

He added that he continued to suffer from “the stress of having to watch out for my own physical safety as well as that of my friends who are weaker than me.”

At a press conference in July last year, Fanelli confessed to killing Miss Pienjai by stabbing her, but said it was an “accident”.

Presented by police at the same press conference were items to be used as evidence to show that Fanelli disposed of Miss Pienjai’s body by stuffing it into a large suitcase – posthumously breaking both of her legs.

He carried the suitcase by motorbike and dumped it in a remote part of Phuket's Wichit sub-district, several kilometers from his rented home.

Fanelli, who was a professional poker player, earned the name “Mad Yank” among fellow players for his often boisterous demeanor.

Columnist Victoria Coren wrote an article in the British newspaper The Guardian, about her friendship with Fanelli when he was participating in poker competitions.

To see video of Ronald Fanelli confessing to the killing of Ms Pienjai, click

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2011/article11352.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-11-03

[katabeachbum]

Sad to see his 2 year old son dancing at night in the Kata girlie bars

[Lammbock]

If they wouldn't throw people in prison for smoking a joint in public the prison wouldn't be so overcrowded.

[harrisonkrs1]

only 10 years?

[dude007]

I guess he would have had more if it was in the US. But there, prisons are more comfortable... 10 years - 400 days is not too bad for taking someone's life, who has done nothing wrong and is the mother of a baby! But he will come out mad as everybody else...

[wxpwzrd]

only 10 years?

Yeah that was my thought - "Ten WHOLE YEARS?" Except that is even shortened by the over one year he already served...

[bri1guy]

I guess he would have had more if it was in the US. But there, prisons are more comfortable... 10 years - 400 days is not too bad for taking someone's life, who has done nothing wrong and is the mother of a baby! But he will come out mad as everybody else...

Sounds like to me that he already has mental problems & ten years in Prison he will probaly not get any mental help, He will probably develope symptoms of major depression, mania or psychotic disorders such as hallucinations or delusions too , we all just- Hope someone is taking care of his Son!!

[Docno]

Here's his confession before the media... Interesting to see how the Thai cops treat him. Nodding their heads, patting him on the back. Seem almost sympathetic to him...

[rotary]

They should have gave him death. 10 years is way to easy for this thug.

[harrycallahan]

Poke-her champ, stabbed a bar girl. I'd still take 10 years in Thailand than 20 anywhere else, time and freedom are the sacrifices.

[ukrules]

They should have gave him death. 10 years is way to easy for this thug.

Death is reserved for the most serious of crimes in Thailand, murder doesn't come close.

[DavidMavec]

I wonder why he got 10 years for murder but people who get convicted of drug offenses get a lot more.... maybe because she was "just" a bar girl?

[tommyboy928]

Poke-her champ, stabbed a bar girl. I'd still take 10 years in Thailand than 20 anywhere else, time and freedom are the sacrifices.

NOBODY say why he did it ?? what lead up to this crime , hat actually happend before he did it ?

[bridge2bridge]

only 10 years?

Yes i agree, thought he would have got at least 20 years.

[michaeljordan]

only 10 years?

Yes i agree, thought he would have got at least 20 years.

Terrible.

If he had been convicted in the states, we could have locked him up for life.

We all understand love and hate and how quickly they can connect. However, we are not all OJ Simpson nutcases and we walk away. I know Thailand does not want to deal with farangs and maybe this 10 year sentence is no worry for them because they knowwwwwwwww.

He will not avoid his needed end for 1 year in a Thai prison.

[ALFREDO]

Here's his confession before the media... Interesting to see how the Thai cops treat him. Nodding their heads, patting him on the back. Seem almost sympathetic to him...

He, probably gave-give them some advise how to play Poker. Buddys now.

Anyway, I do not know enough about the backstory. A murder, manslaughter out of passion? Whats the reason, him MADYANK style?

The lady, as I remember, was only a Nights partner? I must read again. -But for hang him higher-, I do not know now enough.

Maybe kind of answer from another older thread.

BY VICTORIA COREN

Sunday 25 July 2010

Quote

'Seemed like a normal guy to me." That's what the neighbours often say, isn't it? "He was pretty quiet. Kept himself to himself." Last week, I walked past the house in Brighton where police are digging for victims of the serial killer Peter Tobin. I felt sorry for the people next door. It's bad enough to be woken by drills when someone's getting cable TV.

I wondered if the neighbours had lived there when Tobin did, in the 1980s, and were now getting the opportunity to tell people he seemed like a normal guy to them.

My old poker friend Ron Fanelli never seemed "pretty quiet". He was a noisy guy, opinionated. He broke all the rules of London poker etiquette by turning up at the casino, six or seven years ago, and sounding off right from the start. But I forgave him all the noise, because he was American. He was funny. I liked him.

When I hosted a series on the Poker Channel, a niche chatshow with poker players as guests, I invited Ron to take part in several episodes because he was entertaining and outspoken. One episode had the theme of "table manners": what is and is not acceptable behaviour in a poker game. My opening question was: "Ron, what is the worst thing you've ever done?"

Ron replied: "Me? I'm an angel. I've never done anything bad. Well, I guess I've made a few people cry. I don't like getting unlucky. There was that time I told everyone at the table I hoped they'd die of cancer. Other than that, I've never done anything bad."

And he laughed. The other guests laughed.

Last Monday, Ron confessed to murdering a prostitute in Thailand, chopping up her body and disposing of it in a suitcase.

It is a staple of broadcast news, when a killer is identified, to ask personal acquaintances for clues from the past. The public is eager to help. Everyone has a story to sell about Raoul Moat. They saw it in him. They never saw it in him.

I was always sceptical of anecdotes about "strange eyes" or "a nervous manner". All meaningless hindsight. Of course you can't tell if the man next door is a potential murderer. If you could, you'd move house.

When I first heard that Ron had been arrested in Thailand for the brutal stabbing of Wanphen Pienjai, an employee of the Sweetheart Bar in Phuket, I assumed he had been fitted up. I was terrified for him. I automatically supposed that this had been a scandalous murder, there was pressure on local police to make an arrest and what better scapegoat than a noisy American immigrant who visited prostitutes? A good one to lock up, close the files and draw a line under the case.

When I heard he had confessed, I thought he must have been coerced into it. I knew he'd been offered a sick deal whereby he would be executed if found guilty, unless he confessed and accepted life imprisonment. If I were offered something like that in Thailand, I thought, I would probably confess to anything. And then I would sit in jail and wait to be rescued. There is no way this man, whom I knew and liked, had actually done it.

But then the police found the knife in Ron's house. He gave them the shorts he was wearing at the time of the murder. They took away his mattress. He pleaded that he had been drunk at the time. He said it was an accident. He explained how he had put Wanphen's dismembered remains into a suitcase, balanced it on the front of his motorbike, and ridden off to dump the poor, lost girl along the Chao Fa Thani road.

And then the thinking starts. You can't help looking back on every encounter and wondering what it was you were supposed to notice. And then you notice things.

We called him "the Mad Yank". That was his poker nickname. He was temperamental, but you don't give someone a "mad" nickname if you mean it. It was just a joke. He loved it. I think the name might actually have been his own idea to begin with.

I had an argument with him once, when he first started dating Thai girls. He told me that western women were "strident feminists. Bossy and demanding. Asian women are docile, they understand what men want."

I told him not to be so bloody silly. I told him that women are the same the world over, and not to be fooled by the clever tricks of one who might be angling for marriage. (He did end up marrying a Thai woman. They had a child, in Thailand, and a few months later she left him.)

Most poker players are lovable old sexists. Ron was a rightwing American who had served in the navy. I didn't take the argument seriously. Looking back now, it takes on a sinister tone.

I have a photo of myself with the Mad Yank, from 2004. He was having a great time then: winning at poker, popular on internet forums, appearing on chatshows. He played it up, growing an exaggerated moustache and wearing sunglasses. I thought he looked funny in the picture. Staring back at it now, he looks like a killer.

If it were revealed that Ron had, for some reason, invented the whole detailed confession and was not guilty, he would stop looking like a killer. But that is what your brain does. Last Sunday night, I assumed Ron had been fitted up. Twenty four hours later, I had rethought everything in a new light, filled in the gaps, written a murder story in my head, and it made perfect sense.

By 2006, we all knew Ron had run out of money. His hot poker streak had fizzled out; he was kipping on friends' floors and borrowing money. His pride was dented. He was no longer the big success story. He looked for occasional work as a croupier, dealing cards to people whose money he had once won. When he met a "docile" Thai girl, her deference boosted his damaged ego. The obvious move was to follow her to Thailand, living in "paradise" (as he described it on his blog) where everything was cheap and he felt important again.

But she left him. He married a different Thai girl, had a child, then she left him too. Ron was broke but still gambling. He was short-tempered. He demanded obedience. These women had no need of a difficult, impoverished husband in their own homeland. That wasn't the deal. They grew tired of deferring, with only that in return. If he couldn't be an old-fashioned provider, why be an old-fashioned housewife?

When his wife left, Ron felt fooled and betrayed. The women who were supposed to make him feel important had made him feel stupid. It had all been a con. The anger and shame ran deep. He still had little money and no job. At this point, Ron started to use prostitutes. It was a power thing. He used more and more of them. After a while, hiring them for sex was not enough to make Ron feel powerful. He made them do sicker and kinkier things.

He didn't know what had gone wrong. He was a clever, articulate, former military man. He used to win money in glamorous poker tournaments. He had been an alpha male. Now, here he was, stuck in a foreign country where he had chased a woman who left him; another had taken his child away; he was unemployed, skint and using prostitutes. Ron knew he was a man to be reckoned with, even if nobody else could see it. Even if his wife couldn't see it.

No amount of hookers, no manner of kinky activity, could fill the hole where Ron's self-esteem used to be. He knew, now, that the women's obliging, flattering manners were just a pretence. That's just what women do to get what they want. He despised them for it. What he didn't understand was that the more he degraded and punished the girls, the worse he felt about himself. And the further he had to go to feel masterful again. It was a dark, twisted cycle.

One day, he picked up a beautiful girl from the Sweethearts Bar, round the back of the Club Med resort in Kata on the island of Phuket. He took her home. And when she reached for him, with her obliging smile, telling him how lucky she felt to find such a handsome customer, he was revolted by the lie. He saw, suddenly, all the women in the world, every last bitch taking him for a fool. Ron would not be taken for a fool. He snapped.

That is the story I have written for Ron in my head. I know he ran out of money. I know his wife left him. I know he posted on internet forums about all the kinky things he was up to with Thai hookers. I know he has confessed to this murder. I don't know anything else. I have no idea how he felt, or feels, about anything. There was a line in a news report from the Phuket Gazette that made me cry. It said:

"Asked if he were the same Ronald Fanelli who was a former professional poker player who gambled in tournaments under the name 'Mad Yank', he laughed briefly with a tone of bitter irony before replying, 'Yes, but that was a long time ago.'"

But it wasn't. It wasn't a long time ago.

Article originally from The Observer

This post has been edited by bangkokcitylimits: 2011-03-10 13:18:51

http://www.thaivisa....-on-the-inside/

Edited November 3, 2011 by ALFREDO

[michaeljordan]

Here's his confession before the media... Interesting to see how the Thai cops treat him. Nodding their heads, patting him on the back. Seem almost sympathetic to him...

He, probably give them some advise how to play Poker. Buddys now.

Anyway, I don not know enough about the backstory. A murder, manslaughter out of passion? Whats the reason, him MADYANK style?

The lady, as I remember, was only a Nights partner? I must read again. -But for hang him higher-, I do not know now enough.

Yes, we do not know but we do know he stabbed her to death.

We know it was NOT self defense.

The little woman did not weight 100 LBs. He killed her.

He had no remorse and we know this because he dumped her body like garbage.

Someone pokes you in the arm and you kill them?

A woman does not do what you want and you kill her?

He deserves the bad times ahead before his end in the Thai prison.

By the way---this was a Hate crime.

[michaeljordan]

Ten years for this jerk but this same kind of jerk gets life?

Why only 10 years for a first degree murder?

Life for Leigh man who suffocated Thai wife

A man who suffocated his Thai wife in their home has been jailed for life.

Rickie Nehls, 30, of Maple Crescent, Leigh was found guilty of murdering Pornpilai Srisroy at Preston Crown Court and sentenced to life, with an order to serve a minimum of 12 years.

Nehls, also known as Rickie La-Touche, told police he had killed Mrs Srisroy after she threatened to leave him.

Senior investigating officer Andy Tattersall said police "may never know exactly what happened that morning". Nehls was arrested on 26 April after he told his mother he had killed his wife.

[michaeljordan]

Payoff

[Acharn]

I guess he would have had more if it was in the US. But there, prisons are more comfortable... 10 years - 400 days is not too bad for taking someone's life, who has done nothing wrong and is the mother of a baby! But he will come out mad as everybody else...

Prisons in America now are nearly as crowded as prisons in Thailand, although most of them do have beds for most of the prisoners (except in Nevada, and probably Georgia). The food is arguably as bad. It's no picnic in either country.

I'm not sure about the meaning of your last sentence. Is that a typo? Did you mean "mad AT everybody else?" Or did you mean (as I think you meant and I agree with) that everybody who survives and comes out of prison has been driven mad? Of course from the earlier stories describing him this bloke he sounds more than a bit mad already.

[sprq]

I wonder why he got 10 years for murder but people who get convicted of drug offenses get a lot more.... maybe because she was "just" a bar girl?

No, it's because the whole Thai justice system is unbalanced, as well, of course, as unfair and corrupt.

[jeanelie]

Phuket Prison accommodates prisoners serving sentences up to 15 years, so he can stay here if chooses to.

Ten years vacation in a welknown off the beaten path Phuketresort for free. It sounds like a bargain.

[softgeorge]

10 years for murder is a pretty light sentence but then again if your'e a farang 10 yrs in a thai prison would seem like 50 yrs.

[annabel]

Exactly ...??? Wow Life is cheap ....

only 10 years?

[Tokay]

Here's his confession before the media... Interesting to see how the Thai cops treat him. Nodding their heads, patting him on the back. Seem almost sympathetic to him...

The deal is usually, make a full confession or you will be given the maximum punishment.

That's why you always see people confessing, pointing, and so on.

Bum wrap.

[veryruay]

OMG, murder not considered most serious crime and what would that be?

Killing a human being just an easy 10 years prison, cummon Thailand, you encouraged murder?

If I were the judge, a life for a life!!! I don't wanna hear any explanations!!!

They should have gave him death. 10 years is way to easy for this thug.

Death is reserved for the most serious of crimes in Thailand, murder doesn't come close.

[Gonsalviz]

only 10 years?

Well he did say it was an accident.

[katana]

Poke-her champ, stabbed a bar girl. I'd still take 10 years in Thailand than 20 anywhere else, time and freedom are the sacrifices.

NOBODY say why he did it ?? what lead up to this crime , hat actually happend before he did it ?

I remember reading in the Thai press at the time him saying that the girl found a knife hidden under some laundry in his room and began play acting with it, like she was going to stab him. He said he became alarmed, wrestled it off her and stabbed her to death. Yeah, right...

[moskito]

only 10 years?

guess you are new in Thailand....your comment is absolutely rediculous

[moskito]

only 10 years?

Well he did say it was an accident.

may be we should not forget that some Thais walk free after killing a farang...... ask or check for examples, there are a lot...