Phuket: Swedish national Tommy Soderlund gets life for stabbing murder

[hgma]

No Offence intended, but translate in Thai and poster in Udon Thani for a start.

Hard to tell from reading this: http://www.samuiforsale.com/law-texts/thailand-penal-code.html#287. Looks life a life sentence can be any number of years depending on the circumstances.

(Section 288) If you murder someone (unintentionally I guess it is supposed to mean), the sentence could be 15-20 years.

(Section 289 ) If it was premeditated, the sentence is death (usually commuted to life for foreigners though).

(Section 290) If you injure a person without intending for him to die (i.e. you smack him with a baseball bat) and he does die, then the sentence could be from 3-15 years.

From the sounds of it, all three were part of an internet scam operation running out of Pattaya. The dead guy left to start up on his own and ratted out his former partners to the cops. The former partners track him down, stake out his house then go there with a gun, knife and a "plastic band" to tie the victim's wrists with. (Sounds pretty premeditated to me.)

"Both men confessed to their role in the killing. However, they denied any intent to murder Mr Schantz. "

I'm guessing that they confessed to killing him "unintentionally". Because they confessed, they could be looking at a life sentence reduced by half, so maybe 7 1/2 - 10 years ? If Sweden and Thailand have a prisoner exchange treaty, then they'd probably only have to do half of that sentence before being eligible for transfer, so that'd be maybe between 3-5 years. Once back in Sweden who knows ?

The murder was committed almost 3 years ago (Aug 2011) and I'm guessing they've been locked up since then so with time served they could almost be eligible for transfer in a few months.

Of course, their lawyer is filing an appeal. Who knows, they could be granted bail and released from prison while the appeal is pending (like has happened many times in the past). Once out of prison...........

[hhgz]

My understanding is that inmates serving life sentences have leg irons welded shut on their ankles. Another bonus.

[mushroomdave]

My understanding is that inmates serving life sentences have leg irons welded shut on their ankles. Another bonus.

Yes they do, but from what I saw on a YouTube documentary just last week, a UK guy serving life for drugs, had the leg irons on but for the first 3 months only, then they are cut off. I could be wrong but the piece was not very old.

But for murder, you could be correct.......and I also agree they should be welded on for the duration!!

[socksy01]

I believe life means life in Thailand. After a certain time in a Thai hellhole, they will be allowed to transfer to a prison in their own country, which will be like a 5-star hotel in comparison, to serve out the remainder of their sentence. No doubt the Swedish authorities will apply their own version of life imprisonment.

I don't believe life means life. One of the guys arrested for murdering the Dutchman who ran a Bar in Udon Thani has already been convicted for Murder. Maybe he was released on a pardon though.