Antonio Bagnato, 26, appeared at a news conference at Provincial Police Region 2 yesterday (Dec 7) where police displayed two assault rifles, a pair of handguns, ammunition, two Tasers and brass knuckle dusters. The weapons were found at two of Bagnato’s properties in Chonburi 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 (Dec 4) and deported back to Thailand Sunday night (Dec 6) 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, Chonburi police chief, saying the dispute could have been over Mr Schneider and Bagnato’s partnership in a Sydney boxing gym.
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