An Australian man has been found guilty and sentenced to death by a Thai Court for taking part in the 2015 abduction and murder of Hells Angels gang member Wayne Schneider.
Antonio Bagnato, 28, appeared in a packed Pattaya Criminal Court on Tuesday to hear the verdict after he was charged with the abduction and killing of Schneider.
Bagnato allegedly led five foreigners to confront him in a rented Jomtien Park Villas home in the seaside area of Pattaya in Thailand on November 30, 2015 before placing his body into a rental utility vehicle.
BREAKING: Australian Antonio Bagnato sentenced to death in Thailand over Hells Angel murder https://t.co/ySszVSCIXx via @theage
— The Age (@theage) February 7, 2017
#BREAKING: Australian man Antonio Bagnato has been sentenced to death for the murder of Hells Angels member in Thailand.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) February 7, 2017
Schneider's body was found two days later by Thai police buried on the side of a road in Sattahip's Najomtien District, according to the Pattaya Mail.
Initially Bagnato, a kickboxer and business associate of Schneider, pleaded not guilty to the charges before being arrested along with American Tyler Gerard, 22, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Thai police alleged Bagnato was the brains behind the abduction and killing of Schneider in 2015 and claim the incident occurred as a result of a conflict over a multi-million dollar drug network that extended from Europe to Asia.
In a court appearance in November, the Australian was also identified by two witnesses who claimed to have been at the scene of the abduction from the luxury villa.
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