A Man of Canadian gangster pleads guilty in Phuket

A Canadian ex-soldier has pleaded guilty to his involvement in the February 2022 murder of Canadian gangster Jimi Sandhu in Phuket.

Matthew Dupre entered the guilty plea on the first day of his trial at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on June 27, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Dupre admitted his role in the dramatic targeted hit at a beachfront resort on the southern holiday island, said Sgt Brenda Winpenny, of the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in the province of British Columbia, reported the Bangkok Post.

The shooting of Jimi 'Slice' Sandhu by two foreign men was captured on security video outside the Beachfront Hotel in Rawai on the night of Feb 4, 2022. Sandhu had been staying in a private waterfront villa beside the hotel. Fake Canadian identification and cash were found in the villa.

Sandhu, 32, was a member of the United Nations gang in Vancouver. He grew up in nearby Abbotsford but was deported to India in 2016 for serious criminality.

He had been travelling in and out of Phuket since 2016. At the time of his death, he was wanted in India for drug trafficking, had just been banned from Malaysia, and had spent stretches of time in Vietnam. Thai police said they believed he was involved in drug trafficking throughout Southeast Asia.

He rented the villa where he died in November 2021, but left Phuket around Christmas 2021. He was spotted at a fancy New Year's Eve party at the five-star Amari Watergate Hotel in Bangkok before leaving the country, the Sun reported. He returned on Jan 27, eight days before his murder, flying in on a private jet from Malaysia.

Dupre and Lahrkamp arrived together at Phuket International Airport on Dec 18, 2021, the Thai police investigation determined. Both returned to Canada on Feb 8, 2022 and within days were identified as murder suspects.

Canadian police, Investigating at the behest of their Thai counterparts, suspected the slaying was linked to a gangland feud in British Columbia. They searched Dupre's home in Sylvan Lake, Alberta; the residence of co-accused Gene Lahrkamp; and the Ontario home of a third suspect, who was never charged.

Dupre was arrested on Feb 20, 2022 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at his home in Sylvan Lake.

Lahrkamp remained at large but died aboard a small plane that crashed near Sioux Lookout in northern Ontario on April 30, 2022.

Dupre agreed to be extradited in May 2023 and has been in custody in Bangkok ever since. Thai authorities agreed to waive the death penalty in the case in order to satisfy Canadian requirements for extradition.

Dupre and Lahrkamp both served in the Canadian Armed Forces, leaving as corporals. Dupre served from 2005-13 and Lahrkamp from 2012-18, the Sun reported.

Dupre's Linkedin page said he later worked as a private military contractor in Syria and Iraq, where he said he was involved in battles with ISIS. His posted list of skills includes "hand to hand combat, unconventional warfare and sharpshooter"