Kiwi's killer has manslaughter conviction overturned, changed to murder
SHANE COWLISHAW

STOCKHOLM: -- More than three years after bribing his way out of a Thai police cell, the killer of a New Zealand man has finally been found guilty of murder.

Robert Hollick, 43, was stabbed to death at a bar in tourist hot spot Pattaya in 2012.

After the frenzied attack, which was sparked by an argument about Hollick's dog, Thai police arrested and charged Swede Andreas Ringvall with his murder.

But Ringvall left the country two months later in unusual circumstances, after paying 500,000 baht, more than $20,000, in bail.

Investigations revealed Ringvall had changed his name to Andreas Karlsson and started a new life in the small town of Nynashamn, Sweden, where he was working as a labour.

Full story: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/75066409/kiwis-killer-has-manslaughter-conviction-overturned-changed-to-murder

-- Stuff 2015-12-21

"Swedish police have also revealed that the Thai judge believed to have accepted a bribe from Ringvall has been arrested on corruption charges."

Really? Good news indeed.

When was that? Didn't see report about their arrest.

Yes, corruption and bribery in Thai society rises like cream to float above all else. Once again Thailand is in the news for all of the wrong reasons.

"Swedish police have also revealed that the Thai judge believed to have accepted a bribe from Ringvall has been arrested on corruption charges."

Really? Good news indeed.

When was that? Didn't see report about their arrest.

A Thai judge? Really? Do they not need to declare their wealth before taking on their posts?

No mention of which agency pursued this and found the murderer.

Well done, whoever it was.

Edited December 21, 201510 yr by Seastallion

Anyone who finds this article even mildly interesting should read the whole article under the link. It's very interesting and provides a lot more information than in this snippet.

January 2013: The Thai ambassador to New Zealand writes to reassure Anne Hollick he will look into the matter.

...right! I wonder how that went.

In the end, a great outcome!

Swede convicted of manslaughter of a Kiwi in Thailand has sentence overturned

STOCKHOLM: -- Kiwi Robert Hollick, 43 was stabbed to death in a bar in Pattaya in 2012. The frenzied attack that ended up in his death was reportedly the result of an altercation about his dog with Swede Andreas Ringvall.

Two months after his arrest Ringvall left the country in rather unusual circumstances and a 500,000 baht bail payment. Later investigations revealed Ringvall changed his name to Andreas Karlsson before starting a new life in Sweden working as a laborer.

Following a request by the Thai authorities, Stockholm police arrested Ringval in July last year and charged him with murder. Due to lack of witnesses Ringvall received a conviction of manslaughter rather than murder and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, he was released soon after.

However now the Swedish national has been sentenced to 10 years in jail after the Court of Appeal in his own country overturned the earlier decision after Detective Inspector Lars Broms of the Stockholm Serious Crime unit traveled to Thailand several times in an attempt to piece the evidence together.

Detective Inspector Lars Broms said that investigating the case two years on proved to be problematic especially as he was unable to locate the murder weapon, however he did acquire a photograph of the knife taken just after the crime was discovered, Ringvall had admitted it was his.

The murder prosecution was an “historic case”, he said, as it was the first time Thailand had ever asked another country to press charges for a crime committed on Thai soil. Hollick’s mother had struggled to deal with the lack of justice for her son’s death, the news for her has come as a great relief.

-- Samui Times 2015-12-21

I witnessed the incident on Soi Diana back in 2012. The Swede should get life sentence, not 10 years. If he behaves inside, he'll be out in 4 years, buying a new knife, no doubt

"Detective Inspector Lars Broms said that investigating the case two years on proved to be problematic especially as he was unable to locate the murder weapon, however he did acquire a photograph of the knife taken just after the crime was discovered, Ringvall had admitted it was his."

So where is the knife?

Did the BIB not take it as evidence after the murder?

If not, then who took a picture of it?

I would presume that the 18 months sentence that he served for manslaughter will be deducted from the 10 yr murder sentence as time served for the same crime.

So 8 1/2 years.

Probably serve half.

In a Swedish prison.

Not an all too bad outcome for the savage murderer.

"Swedish police have also revealed that the Thai judge believed to have accepted a bribe from Ringvall has been arrested on corruption charges."

Really? Good news indeed.

When was that? Didn't see report about their arrest.

He was released on 500,000 baht bail. and moved to an inactive post for 1 month.

"Thai authorities had refused to talk about how Ringvall had managed to get out of Thailand, but he understood the Judge who approved his release had recently been arrested for taking bribes."

I wonder if this hit the headlines in Thailand?

If not, why not?

Yes, corruption and bribery in Thai society rises like cream to float above all else. Once again Thailand is in the news for all of the wrong reasons.

And all the farang arrested in Thailand on behalf of foreign governments who request Thai police assistance after they've "slipped through the fingers of authorities" there and escaped to Thailand or all the celebrity kiddie fiddlers who police refuse to investigate for decades or all those who cause losses of billions of dollars but never are charged with fraud??

Bribery and corruption in Farang Land seldom makes the headlines anymore because it's so common that it's barely considered newsworthy. It is wrong, of course, whether it happens here or in the US or in Europe or wherever, but the notion that it exists here and not significant elsewhere is laughable.

“If experience demands a presumption that a judge will seize every opportunity presented to him in the course of his official conduct to line his pockets, no canon of ethics or statute regarding disqualification can save our judicial system.”

—Justice William Rehnquist

From a recent study by Yale University relative to bribery in the judiciary alone: http://www.pacourtwatch.com/2015/07/30/judicial-corruption-yale-university-research/

Edited December 21, 201510 yr by Suradit69

Yes, corruption and bribery in Thai society rises like cream to float above all else. Once again Thailand is in the news for all of the wrong reasons.

I guess that the detective found that the BIB of LOS were a lot like the "Keystone Cops; in the silent movies of the 1920s

Yes, corruption and bribery in Thai society rises like cream to float above all else. Once again Thailand is in the news for all of the wrong reasons.

And all the farang arrested in Thailand on behalf of foreign governments who request Thai police assistance after they've "slipped through the fingers of authorities" there and escaped to Thailand or all the celebrity kiddie fiddlers who police refuse to investigate for decades or all those who cause losses of billions of dollars but never are charged with fraud??

Bribery and corruption in Farang Land seldom makes the headlines anymore because it's so common that it's barely considered newsworthy. It is wrong, of course, whether it happens here or in the US or in Europe or wherever, but the notion that it exists here and not significant elsewhere is laughable.

“If experience demands a presumption that a judge will seize every opportunity presented to him in the course of his official conduct to line his pockets, no canon of ethics or statute regarding disqualification can save our judicial system.”

—Justice William Rehnquist

From a recent study by Yale University relative to bribery in the judiciary alone: http://www.pacourtwatch.com/2015/07/30/judicial-corruption-yale-university-research/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism : Whataboutism (or whataboutery) is a rhetorical tactic which attempts to discredit the opponent's position by asserting the opponent's failure to act consistently in accordance with that position, without directly refuting or disproving the opponent's initial argument.

The term "whataboutism" was coined during the Cold War by western commentators. Edward Lucas, writing in the The Economist in 2007, noted it as a tactic he had observed in student debates at the London School of Economics in the early 1980s. He recalled it was an "approach by the Kremlin's useful idiots [...] to match every Soviet crime with a real or imagined western one. It was called 'whataboutism'".

There's a reason why criminal fugitives and celebrity kiddie fiddlers don't seek refuge in the USA, but choose Thailand as a safe haven: Corruption is endemic in Thailand.

Bribing Thai judges occurs in significantly more judicial cases than the 2% you mention. This article is about Thailand, so please stay on topic.

"Swedish police have also revealed that the Thai judge believed to have accepted a bribe from Ringvall has been arrested on corruption charges."

Really? Good news indeed.

When was that? Didn't see report about their arrest.

You didn't see it probably because someone was bribed not to report it.