Brit accused of killing bar girl in 2014 approved for extradition
In 2014, a British man is alleged to have arrived in Thailand, killed and dismembered a woman 2 days later, and fled to Spain. This week, the European Court of Human Rights approved the man’s extradition to Thailand to be prosecuted for the horrific murder. The man is accused of murdering a Thai prostitute in Kanchanaburi and dumping her body in a river before fleeing to Ibiza.
The ECHR decision upholds the ruling of the Spanish High Court that Shane Kenneth Looker, the alleged murderer, should be sent back to Thailand to face charges. Looker is 47 years old and from the United Kingdom originally, though he appears to have been living in Ibiza since the crime. Thai authorities have been calling for his extradition since 2015.
Looker was arrested in June of 2017 in Ibiza after an international warrant for his arrest was issued. He had long been known to be living in Ibiza and is said to be a partner in a hotel on the party island. A year after his arrest, the Spanish National Court ruled in July that he would face extradition to Thailand for punishment. Thai authorities had to guarantee that Looker would not be treated inhumanely or be given capital punishment.
Another year after the Spanish court’s ruling, Looker filed an October 2019 complaint pleading not to be extradited back to Thailand. The ECHR met in Strasbourg and ruled against his request, approving the extradition.
Thai police reports state that he arrived in Bangkok on Halloween night, October 31 in 2014 before travelling to Kanchanaburi. There, on only his second night in Thailand, in the early hours of November 2nd, he killed a 27 year old woman in her own room. She was reportedly working as a prostitute.
Looker is accused of then dismembering the body and stuffing it into a suitcase, before dumping her remains in the Mae Klong River in the western border province of Kanchanaburi. After disposing of the body and evidence, he left Thailand on November 27 and moved to Ibiza.
SOURCE: Thailand News
