Swede Sentenced To Life For 2011 Phuket Murder

January 25, 2014

PHUKET – January 24,2014; He has 30 days to appeal the sentence.

He was also ordered to pay B12.5 million compensation to Mr Schantz’s family.

Ljung and fellow Swede Tommy Viktor Söderlund – both aged 26 when the murder took place in The Lantern apartment complex in Koh Kaew in August 2011 – faced charges of conspiracy to murder; possession of a handgun and seven bullets with no permit; possession of a handgun in a public area; threatening use of a knife in a public area; and theft of a motorcycle.

The duo denied all charges except for the threatening use of a knife in public.

The men earlier confessed to having a part in the death of Mr Schantz, 25, saying it was a came after a business partnership turned sour, though they claimed they did not intend to kill Mr Schantz.

The men were arrested at the Surin Sweet hotel in Surin in 2011, where they had apparently gone into hiding after fatally stabbing Mr Schantz putside the apartment he had rented at The Lantern.

The three men had previously been part of a call centre scam operation in Pattaya.

In February 2011, Mr Schantz apparently fell out with the group and left, taking with him a list of all their “customers” and delivering it to Pattaya police. That led to the arrest of Söderlund, who was later released on bail.

After a quick search of Facebook, Söderlund and Ljung found that Mr Schantz had moved to Phuket, and decided to pay him a visit.

It took them three weeks to track him down, but they eventually found him living in The Lantern in Koh Kaew, and moved into a house opposite.

When Mr Schantz returned home late on August 1, 2011, the two men confronted him and tried to force him into their house.

Mr Schantz resisted, and in the ensuing struggle Mr Schantz was fatally stabbed in the jugular vein with a knife Ljung was holding to his throat.

“It was an accident,” Söderlund told police at the time.

The two then fled the scene, commandeering a motorbike to make their escape.

They initially checked into the Andaman Place hotel in Thalang District, before moving to Surin Sweet hotel, where they were arrested. A blood-stained T-shirt belonging to Ljung was found in their room.

Söderlund’s trial will conclude on March 8.

View the original story on The Phuket News

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