US man to be sent to Australia over killing of Thai national

LOS ANGELES: Authorities have identified an American suspect in the killing of a Thai national whose battered body was found bound, gagged and wrapped in plastic on the side of a road in a high-profile case in Australia, according to a federal search warrant.

Australian authorities issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for Alex Dion in the killing of 33-year-old Wachira “Mario” Phetmang, whose body was found on the side of a freeway in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park in June.

The arrest warrant for Dion was issued in September while he already was in custody on a domestic violence charge in San Diego, according to the federal search warrant filed by the FBI on Friday.

The warrant, which marks the first time a suspect has been publicly named in Phetmang’s killing, was first obtained by Seamus Hughes, a terrorism researcher at George Washington University who mines federal court databases.

Dion, 38, was set to be extradited from San Diego to Australia tomorrow, according to the warrant.

Phetmang, a Thai national who lived in Australia for a decade, was last seen alive on May 25 at a gas station in the Sydney suburb of South Hurstville. An autopsy found that he suffered more than 20 wounds to his head and had multiple skull fractures.

The day he died, Phetmang told his partner he was going to pick up methamphetamine and later met Dion at the gas station, according to surveillance footage, the search warrant said.

Phetmang and Dion left the gas station in Dion’s car, according to the surveillance footage, and that was the last anyone saw of Phetmang.

Dion flew back to the US two days after Phetmang’s death but before the body was found on June 6, according to the search warrant.

A boot police believe belonged to Dion was found with Phetmang’s body, and the matching boot was later found in Dion’s apartment, the search warrant said.