Tag Archive for 'Leo Del Pinto'

Canadian property developer gunned down in Thailand

Published
by
Andrew Drummond
on February 20, 2009
in The Times
. 3 Comments

Link to CBC Report by Andrew Drummond

Link to Globe & Mail report by same author

Link to Globe update with more infro from Oliver Moore

From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok
February 20 09
Police in Thailand are investigating the murder of a wealthy Canadian property developer who was gunned down on his birthday outside his luxury condominium.
Francis Alex Degioanni, 34, originally from Quebec was shot seven times by gunmen who waited for him to drive out of his Panorama condo on Patong Beach, on the island of Phuket -one of Thailand’s top tourist destinations.
Minutes earlier Degioanni, had received a telephone call and had told his 22-yr-old Thai wife that he had to do some urgent business, but would be back to celebrate his birthday.
As he drove out of his condo in his Toyota Regal witnesses said he was approached by the gunmen, one wearing a long sleeved red shirt and trousers, the other wearing jeans, jacket and peaked cap.  Both had short military style hair-cuts.
The shooting began as he stopped. Degioanni was shot by the men firing .38 calibre pistols and had wounds in his head, neck, chest and one arm. Both men then fled on a motorycle in the direction of Jungceylon department store.
His Thai wife Tawadee Pencharoenwattana said: “My husband left in a hurry saying he had some business to attend to, after taking the telephone call.  When I heard the shots I rushed down.
“He was still alive and I dragged him across to the passenger seat and drove him to the hospital but he died before I reached it.  We have only been living here six months.”
Police who at the crime scene at 8.30 pm Thursday say they believe the shooting was business related.
Police Superintendent Krissak Songmoonmak said: “ The Canadian was very wealthy and had been involved in property development in Phuket for over five years.
“We know he was in dispute with his Thai business partner and had claimed he had been cheated out of 20 million baht ( Can $704,584).  That matter is already in the courts.”
Police did not say where in Canada Mr. Degioanni was from.
Last year Canadian Leo Del Pinto, aged 24, from Calgary was gunned down by a Thai policeman in the northern Thai village of Pai. 
The trial of the policeman was late last year abandoned and the Department of Special Investigations has been asked to prepare a new case.
Also murdered in Thailand last year was Dale Henry, originally from BC, but who spent much of his life as a paramedic and firefighter in Calgary.
Police have arrested his Thai wife, her lover, and a hit man in connection with the shooting at his home in Thailand’s Ranong Province, in a case which is still going through Thailand’s slow justice system.

N.B.Corrections/Updates: Father of Degioanni says his son was educated in the U.S. and has been in Thailand nine years. Later reports from Canada show that DeGioanni (this is now the accepted form) had earlier told his family that he thought he had been poisoned by his business partner, a woman, and might need police protection. He declined to return to Canada because he has a major project to finish. He was previously married in Thailand and has a three year old daughter.  The woman who shared his condo was his current Thai girlfriend.  DeGioanni was a former male model based out of Bangkok.

 

Thai police shooting case abandoned. Policeman freed

Published
by
Andrew Drummond
on November 22, 2008
in General News and The Times
. 10 Comments

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From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok

 

November 22 2008

 

Shock as Thai policeman who gunned down Canadians in Thailand is released and case halted.

 

The Thai policeman who gunned down two Canadian tourists in the Northern Thai village of Pai in January this year has been released without charge by a court in Bangkok.

And the case against the police sergeant who killed Leo Del Pinto, 24, from Calgary, and Carly Reisig, 23, from Chilliwack B.C., has been brought to an abrupt halt because of ‘procedural errors.”

The case against police sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat had earlier been taken out of the hands of local police and placed in the hands of the Department of Special Investigations, Thailand’s FBI,  by former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The Canadian Ambassador in Bangkok, David Sproule, who has expressed the Canadian government’s ‘serious concern’ was told by SDI officials , that they had been told by the Public Prosecutor that the procedural errors were made in the early stages of the investigation.

But those errors, the DSI claimed, were not by made by them but by colleagues of the policeman, Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat in Pai Police,  whose chief has already been reported to the National Counter Corruption Commission by Commissioner Dr. Surasee Kosolnavin of the Thai National Human Rights Commission.

A DSI official said: “ The clock has stopped, but we can start it again and bring the case to court in Bangkok.”

The case has again raised concerns about the difficulty in Thailand getting police to accept culpability for their own actions.

 Leo’s father Ernie Del Pinto said in Calgary: “We all know there was a cover up in Pai.  That is why I believe the DSI was ordered to take over the case. They should be above all this.  This is very worrying. How long does it take to get any sort of justice in Thailand.”

 

 

The latest development is all the more surprising because a another Public Prosecutor was in the National Commission for Human Rights team which investigated the case in the vanguard of DSI officials.

Dr. Surasee Kosolnavin said  that he would rather not comment, as it was now a DSI matter, other than that he was disappointed with the development.

After the shootings Pai in January Police claimed that Uthai was shooting upwards in self defence as he fell to the ground.  An investigation by Thai forensic expert Pornthip Rojanansund, found the policeman had shot down into Del Pinto’s head.

The local police chief’s  claim that Sergeant Uthai (pictured) was attacked by the couple was also disputed by witnesses who are under DSI protection.

Canadian officials were told that it was a prosecutor in the Office of Thailand’s Attorney General, who claimed the investigation had not followed proper procedures.  Dechachiwat had to be released under a ruling which required  that he go to trial within 84 days or be discharged.  If they did not release him ,said the DSI, they would have difficulty recharging him.  This could be done after the procedural errors were corrected.

Meanwhile Ernie Del Pinto, whose campaign in Canada includes posters on Calgary city buses reading ‘Canadian Murdered in Thailand. When will justice be served?’, says he is planning to fly to Thailand to push for justice.

In a previous case, that of Police Sergeant Somchai Wisetsingh , who gunned down British backpackers Vanessa Arscott and Adam Lloyd in Kanchanaburi in 2004 , no witnesses would give evidence at his trial to say they saw the shooting, although they would admit as such to newspaper reporters.  Wisetsingh was convicted on forensic evidence after the parents of both victims, accompanied by British Embassy officials, who had voiced Britain’s concern, met with officials of the Office of Attorney General, Tourist Authority of Thailand, and the Provincial Court.

 

 

Thai policeman who gunned down Canadians seized by DSI - CBC

Published
by
Andrew Drummond
on October 16, 2008
in General News
. 1 Comment

Link to CBC story

Link to Globe and Mail story

 

 

From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok Criminal Court, October 15 2008

 

A Thai policeman accused of gunning down two Canadian backpacker s, killing one, was committed to prison in Bangkok today to face trial for the alleged murder.

Police Sergeant Uthai  Dechawiwat was taken to the Criminal Court in Bangkok and remanded in custody to Klong Prem Prison, Lard Yao, Bangkok, after being seized in north Thailand by officers of the Department of Special Investigation – Thailand’s FBI.

The prosecutor opposed bail for Sergeant Dechawiwat  who was taken from Mae Hong Son province, and brought 450 miles south to Bangkok overnight.

Wearing a yellow sweat shirt Dechawiwat was then led to cells below the court and remanded to prison.

The moves follow a campaign led by Ernest Del Pinto, the father of Leo Del Pinto, 24,  from  Calgary, who was fatally gunned down in the small tourist town of Pai in northern Thailand.  Also shot in he same incident was his companion Carly Reisig, 24, from  Chilliwack, British Columbia.

After the shootings Dechawiwat was not even suspended from duty, but instead transferred out of Pai to a neighbouring village.

The Sergeant claimed he was acting in self defence, that Carly Reisig and Leo Del Pinto had attacked him and his gun went off as he fell backwards to the ground.

The local police gathered statements from a number of local witnesses which supported their version of events. Only one bullet was fired which hit both victims, police claimed.

But Thailand’s National Commission on Human Rights decided to take up the case after two  young and independent Thai witnesses, who did not have to rely on local police for their livelihood, told a completely different version.

They said Thai pistol-whipped Ms. Reisig and shot her in the chest before turning his gun on Leo Del Pinto who had his hands in the air. He shot Del Pinto first in the abdomen and then in the head as he fell to the ground.

When Thailand’s top forensic scientist Dr. Porn hip Rojanansun was called in she confirmed that the evidence did not fit the police story.  There were three bullets, one of which hit Ms. Reisig.

Del Pinto, she said, was shot in the head from above.

Thai Human Rights Commissioner Surasee Kosolnavin said today: “We are aware of the concerns of the family and Canadian government and wish to see this trial conducted fairly.

“To do so we have had to protect witnesses and we now have two more witness against the policeman whose identity we have to keep a secret until they give evidence.

“They are under witness protection.

“It was decided to take the case out of the local province and bring it to Bangkok along with the Police Sergeant.  I have reported a senior policeman to the National Counter Corruption Commission for attempted intimidation.

“This case is now fully in the hands of the Public Prosecutor and the D.S.I.”

Leo Del Pinto’s father Ernie Del Pinto said from Calgary: “This is very good news. I feel happier the case is being held in Bangkok. Of course its not before time. I have had sleepless nights knowng this man has been allowed to go free and has been spotted several times by tourists in local bars.

“I will only get any real sense of closure when the case closes with thr right result.”

Canadians protest ‘murder’ by Thai police - July 19 08

Published
by
Andrew Drummond
on July 19, 2008
in General News
. 6 Comments

 

From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, Saturday July 19 2008

The family and friends of a young backpacker who was gunned down by a policeman in Thailand have begun a nationwide poster campaign in Canada to demand the killer be brought to court.

Leading the ‘search for justice’ is Ernest Del Pinto, from Calgary, Alberta, whose 25-yr-old son was shot dead by a Thai policeman in the northern Thai village of Pai.

City buses in Calgary are now carrying the posters ‘Canadian Murdered in Thailand. When will be justice be served?’.  The campaigners, who are also getting together a petition, plan to take the campaign to buses in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

The move follows lack of action in Thailand and the exposure by the Thai National Human Rights Commission of a cover up into the ‘murder’ in January this year.

Mr. Del Pinto (below third from left) is also asking Canadians to stay away from Thailand until the matter is resolved.

 

Leo Del Pinto was shot in the chest and in the head by a Thai policeman in January. A Canadian friend Carly Reisig, 24, from Chilliwack, B.C. was also shot in the chest but she survived.

After the shootings local police chief Colonel Sombat Panya claimed that Canadians had made an unprovoked attack on Police Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat in the northern village of Pai after he broke up a fight between them.

Uthai, he claimed, shot in self defence as he fell to the ground. His automatic had a hair trigger.
However witnesses and forensic evidence revealed by Thailand’s leading pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasund contradicted the police story. 

It was Leo who as he fell to the ground. He was shot in the chest and then a second shot was aimed straight at his head as he fell.

Witnesses under protection also said that Sergeant Uthai pistol whipped Ms. Reisig before shooting her under her left breast.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej ordered the Thai Department of Special Investigation to take up the case four months ago.  Thai police are notoriously inefficient in investigating their own officers.

No policeman has yet to be prosecuted in connection with a government drugs war in Thailand which began in 2003 during which over 2,000 were killed, killed mainly, say human rights organisations, by policemen.

Family spokesman Ross Fortune said: “The officer concerned is still free and walking the streets and drinking in the bars. Is it not right for the family to feel upset?”

In Bangkok Kamol Kamultrakul of the Thai Human Rights Commission said: “We will be in touch with the DSI to discuss progress.”

Four years ago British backpackers Vanessa Arscott, 23, and Adam Lloyd, 24, from Devon, were gunned down by a Thai policeman in Kanchanaburi on the River Kwai.

Local witnesses to the shooting were scared to give evidence against the policeman, Sergeant Somchai Wisetsingh. But he was convicted and jailed primarily on forensic evidence.

 

 

Thai P.M. orders investigation into tourist killings - April 10 2008

Published
by
Andrew Drummond
on April 11, 2008
in General News
. 0 Comments

Leo Del Pinto charcoal 1 2 3Thai Prime Minister orders investigation into tourist killings

From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok
April 10 2008

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej today (Thursday) formally ordered an investigation into the conduct of a Thai policeman who shot dead a Canadian tourist and injured a second.

The Thai Premier, in his role as the Chairman of the Department of Special Investigations, ordered the DSI to formally investigate charges of murder and attempted murder.

The move comes in the midst of allegations that police in Pai, a picturesque tourist village in northern Thailand, deliberately attempted to cover up the actions of one of their own officers, whom they had to investigate.

The case was taken up by the Thai Human Rights Commission. Commissioner Saisuree Kosolnavin and a team found evidence that completely contradicted the investigation conducted by Police Colonel Sombat Panya of the local Pai police.

Colonel Panya claimed that Canadian Leo Del Pinto, 24, from Calgary and Carly Reisig, 24, from Chilliwack, B.C. had made an unprovoked attack on Police Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat after he broke up a fight between them in January this year.

Uthai, he claimed, shot in self defence as he fell to the ground. His automatic had a hair trigger.

The police story was subsequently published in the local press and the wire stories and transmitted worldwide.

Police further said that nevertheless Sgt Uthai had been charged with murder and attempted murder but on investigation there was no court record of such charges.

Witnesses and forensic evidence examined by Thailand’s leading pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasund however totally contradicted the police story. 

Forensic evidence showed that the policeman shot down into Del Pinto’s head. Witnesses said that Sergeant Uthai pistol whipped Ms Reisig before shooting her under her left breast.

The conduct of the police had earlier been referred by the TNHRC to the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission.

Dr. Saisuree said: “This development is very encouraging. The process has already started as Ms. Reisig and another witness have been allowed to give evidence in court.”