Killer of NZ croquet chief nabbed

Killer of NZ croquet chief nabbed

Syrian ex-commando admits stabbing New Zealander in Jomtien after row

A former Syrian Army commando has been arrested in connection with the murder of Charles Edmund Jones, late president of the World Croquet Federation, in Jones's rented condominium in Chon Buri's Jomtien area on Monday night.
The New Zealander's body was discovered in the condominium with multiple stab wounds on Tuesday.
Provincial Police Region 2 chief Lt-General Thangai Prasajaksatru and Pattaya Police superintendent Col Nanthawut Suwanla-ong yesterday presented the suspect, 21-year-old Mohamad Shanar Ryad, at a press conference along with the victim's notebook, cell phones and wristwatch, which were reportedly stolen, as well as a pocket knife they alleged was the murder weapon.
Ryad reportedly told police he met Jones on August 19 in South Pattaya. He said Jones invited him to smoke marijuana with him in his room and paid him Bt400 to perform oral sex on him. Ryad claimed that on Monday night, Jones invited him to his room again, but the pair got into an argument, during which Jones pulled a knife on him and attempted to sexually assault him. According to police, Ryad admitted to using his pocket knife to stab the victim about 20 times before fleeing with Jones's valuables and hiding at the room of Ryad's Thai girlfriend in Soi Chalermphrakiat 19.
Thangai said police had determined that Ryad came to Thailand as a refugee with the assistance of the United Nations after serving as an army commando in Syria.
He had travelled between Thailand and Malaysia frequently over the past four years and was recently fired from his job as a cook at a Pattaya restaurant before moving in with his girlfriend, Thangai said. Police took the suspect to re-enact the crime at the Jomtien condo yesterday.
In related news, police have arrested an alleged hitman, ranked 16th on their most-wanted list of professional killers, in connection with several murders in Nakhon Sawan. The suspect had evaded police efforts to arrest him and taken a job as a security guard at Suvarnbhumi Airport before quitting work, going into hiding and seeking treatment for gout, they said.
Bundit (also known as Sathit) Tomoung, 53, was arrested while lying low in his hometown in Nakhon Sawan's Chumsaeng district, Pol Colonel Supat Pheungphuang told a press conference at Metropolitan Police Headquarters yesterday.