Alleged Jimi 'Slice' killer back in Thailand to face charges

Matthew Dupre arrived on Sunday night in a Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) flight escorted by 10 commandoes from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) and 30 members of the RTAF’s special operations unit.

The flight landed at Don Mueang Airport’s Wing 6 terminal at about 11pm on Sunday amid tight security.

Central Investigation Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Jirapop Phuridej dispatched another team of 30 CSD commandoes to escort Dupre from the airport to the CSD headquarters. He is now under the supervision of the Central Investigation Bureau.

Thai police said that though the suspect has been identified as Matthew Dupre, he carries a Canadian passport under the name of Matthew Leandre Ovide.

Dupre and an accomplice are accused of shooting and killing Sandhu in front of his beachfront rented villa in Phuket’s Rawai area at 10.30pm on February 4, 2022.

Police later identified the alleged gunman from security camera footage and learned that he was an internationally notorious contract killer living in Canada.

Investigators from Chalong Police Station then obtained an arrest warrant against the suspect on February 11 last year but learned that he and his alleged accomplice had flown out of Thailand two days after the murder.

The Phuket Court issued a warrant for both suspects on charges of premeditated murder, possession of guns and ammunition and carrying and using weapons in public.

On February 15 last year, the Royal Thai Police asked the Office of the Attorney-General to seek the suspect’s extradition.

Dupre was arrested by the Royal Canadian mounted police on February 20, 2022, under an arrest warrant issued by the Alberta provincial court. The court also approved Dupre’s extradition under the 1999 Extradition Act of Canada.

The second suspect in the case, Gene Lahrkamp, 36, died in a plane crash in Canada in May 2022.