Former Hells Angels member Wayne Rodney Schneider found dead near Pattaya after kidnapping: Thai police
By South-East Asia correspondent Liam Cochrane and Mark Solomons
Updated December 03, 2015 00:44:10
Photo: Wayne Schneider was on the New South Wales Police most wanted list in 2006. (Supplied: NSW Police)
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Map: Thailand
Former Hells Angels member Wayne Rodney Schneider has been found dead near the Thai coastal town of Pattaya after being abducted by five masked men on Monday morning, police say.
Police found Mr Schneider's body in a roadside grave about 30 kilometres from his home. They said it appeared he was beaten to death.
Investigators said Mr Schneider was found with a broken neck, which they believed was the cause of death.
"There was two-inch cut at the eyebrow and broken neck on the body we found... so he might have been beaten up by a group and that caused the broken neck," Pattaya superintendent Sukthat Poompanmuang said.
Police said the motive was a dispute between Mr Schneider and another Australian man, Antonio Bagnato, whom he was seen drinking with on Sunday night.
They said both men were on a watch list for drugs and money laundering in Australia, but there was no information about them dealing drugs in Thailand.
Police believe they have also found the vehicle used in the abduction of Mr Schneider.
Investigators said they used GPS to track the car to the burial site.
Photographs of the crime scene published by Thai media show bullets, an extendable baton, a watch and blood.
Two security guards working at the Pattaya housing complex said they were warned to stay away by a man with a gun.
An arrest warrant has been issued for main suspect Mr Bagnato, 26, who is believed to still be in Thailand.
Mr Schneider was previously described as a senior member of the Hells Angels in Sydney.
According to another senior member of the outlaw motorcycle club, he was a member of the Sydney "City Crew" chapter — one of three chapters in the NSW capital.
But the source said Mr Schneider did not regularly attend club events and was known to be "up to no good".
"He was not a real motorcyclist. He was mostly interested in making money," the source told the ABC.
Mr Schneider had previously been investigated over the shooting of a nightclub bouncer and possession of drugs.
Thai police said on Tuesday that they were working with Australian law enforcement officers on the abduction case and had made contact with Mr Schneider's wife in Dubai.
"[Wayne Schneider] is on a watch-list for Australian police to follow up ... and also follow up his friends in a gang," superintendent Sukthat said.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, thailand, nsw, australia, asia
First posted December 02, 2015 14:04:22