An Australian biker extradited from Cambodia over the weekend for the kidnapping and murder of former Hells Angels leader Wayne Schneider in Pattaya is facing additional charges after police recovered a cache of illegal weapons he allegedly owned.
Antonio Bagnato, prime suspect in kidnapping and murder of Hells Angel biker Wayne Schneider, sits in police custody in Phnom Penh Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Kampuchea Thmey Daily)
Antonio Bagnato, 26, appeared at a news conference at Provincial Police Region 2 on Monday where police displayed two assault rifles, a pair of handguns, ammunition, two Tasers and brass knuckles. The weapons were found at two of Bagnato's properties in Chon Buri province, Thai media reported.
Police said he would be tried in Miltary Court on the weapons charges.
Mr Bagnato was captured in Phnom Penh Friday and deported back to Thailand Sunday night after Thai police named him as the ringleader of a gang of five foreigners who killed Schneider, 37, after abducting him from a rented Pattaya home Nov 30. Police found the body two days later buried on the side of Wihan Sian-Khao Cheechan Road in Sattahip district's tambon Najomtien.
Alleged accomplice Tyler Gerard, 21, was arrested last week and reportedly confessed to his role in the crime. A third suspect, Schneider's housemate Amad "Jay" Malkoun was allowed to leave Thailand by police before they identified him as a possible cohort. Two others, an Australian and an American, remain at large.
Police continue to only speculate over the motive for the killing, with Pol Maj Gen Amporn Buarabporn, Chon Buri police chief, saying the dispute could have been over Schneider and Bagnato's partnership in a Sydney boxing gym.