Thai Police Hunt Kickboxer Accused in Ex-Marine's Slaying

(Aug. 16) -- Police in Thailand are hunting for a British kickboxer suspected of killing a 23-year-old ex-U.S. Marine.

Officers are scouring the island resort of Phuket, some 500 miles south of Bangkok, for Lee Aldhouse, 28, who is thought to have stabbed Dashawn Longfellow to death following an argument in a bar.

Longfellow's mother, Tammy, told Oklahoma news station KOCO.com her son had headed to Thailand last month after being wounded in Afghanistan, and that he hoped to learn a martial art. A Facebook memorial set up in the ex-Marine's honor noted that he had served two tours in the war zone and received "two Purple Hearts after being hurt by his vehicle exploding while he was there and going back to save who he could. He was awarded many more medals."

Police Lt. Col. Anukul Nuket told The Guardian that Longfellow's body was found Saturday at the Yanui Paradise Resort in southern Phuket. "I can confirm that a man was murdered last night in Rawai and his body is in Vachira hospital. Police want to talk to Lee Aldhouse, a 28-year-old from England, but no arrests have yet been made," Nuket said.

Longfellow and Aldhouse -- who trained in Thai kickboxing (Muay Thai) -- first came to blows in the Freedom Bar early Saturday, according to the Phuket Gazette. The Marine's bartender girlfriend Ooy told the paper that Longfellow had come to pick her up around 1 a.m. While he was waiting for Ooy, Longfellow went to the restroom, only to find Aldhouse blocking the entrance and challenging him to a fight. When the Marine refused, Aldhouse allegedly punched him in the face. In the ensuing fight, Longfellow apparently knocked his opponent to the floor before the two were separated by bar staff and patrons, according to the tourist website Phuket Wan.

But Aldhouse -- known for "getting drunk and picking fights and bragging that he's invincible" -- wasn't willing to walk away, Nuket told The Associated Press. He snatched a knife from a behind the counter of a convenience store and followed the couple back to their hotel room, according to the Gazette, citing witnesses. Ooy told the newspaper the kickboxer stabbed Longfellow in the chest outside his apartment and fled on a mo-ped as she attempted to resuscitate her boyfriend.

Ooy told the Gazette that Aldhouse had approached Longfellow from behind before stabbing him twice in the chest. "At first it didn't look like [Aldhouse] had anything. We didn't know he had a knife because his hands were in his pockets," she said.

Thai police have now issued an arrest warrant for Aldhouse, who hasn't fought professionally since March 2009. According to Danny Avison, who worked at the gym where Aldhouse trained and fought, the Brit had a reputation for fighting dirty. "He came here with an English girl in 2006. He was massive; he was obviously a steroid junky and said he had been working as a bouncer in Spain," Avison told the Gazette. "In his first fight for [the gym], he knocked the guy down and then dived on him and tried to bite his ear off." That incident can be seen at around 3:23 in this YouTube clip.

Avison added that Aldhouse was later thrown out of the gym after trainers found out that he had allegedly assaulted his girlfriend.

Longfellow's mother said she was immensely proud of everything her son accomplished in his short life, and that his five siblings were mourning him. "He accomplished a lot, he said. He mastered every test they gave him. He worked his hardest and he did the best he could," she told KOCO.com. "He was very competitive. He always wants to win, and that's what he did."

And Matt Gronbach of Fort Dodge, Iowa, who served in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment with Longfellow, described him in an e-mail to the AP as "a caring and loving person. One of the nicest guys you could ever be around. Great friend, brother and son. He was just a huge teddy bear that everyone loved."