
BREAKING NEWS Top Aussie lawyer is found dead in a massage parlour on the same Thai island where Shane Warne died
Christopher Saines, the 43-year-old CEO of Brisbane 's GLG Legal, was found unresponsive at Siam Touch Massage shop, which offers sexual services, on the Thai holiday island of Koh Samui about 6am on Monday.
Emergency services were called to the Bo Phut shop, close to the villa where Warne died, about 7am after workers discovered the lawyer wasn't breathing.
Initial investigations suggest Mr Saines left his $4,000-a-night hotel, where he was staying with his wife, around midnight and paid 400 baht, AUD$19, for a one-hour traditional oil massage.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Phumaret Inkong of Bo Phut Police Station said officers found a ziplock bag with white powder, suspected to be cocaine, in Mr Saines' pants pocket.
'But we can't confirm it yet, it needs to be sent for lab analysis,' he said.
'From initial field testing using police reagents, it's presumed to be an illegal drug, but we're not sure if it's actually cocaine.'
Masseuse Premyupa, 47, told local outlet Thaiger that Mr Saines had arrived at the parlour alone and walking barefoot.
'After we finished, he said he wanted to lie down and rest. I left him for a while, and when I came back, he was still snoring,' she said.
'It wasn't until much later I realised he wasn't breathing.'
Premyupa last heard Mr Saines 'snoring' around 4am and claimed when she returned later to wake him two hours later, he was cold and unconscious.
Police and medics from Koh Samui Hospital found the lawyer unconscious on a narrow bed inside one of the shop's private upstairs rooms.
He was lying horizontally across the bed with his legs dangling over its side.
Lieutenant Colonel Inkong said police are not treating Mr Saines' death as suspicious.
'There were no signs of physical struggle. The masseuse had no injuries either. The massage proceeded normally,' he said.
'Right now we are waiting for the results of the drug test and the autopsy report, which may take several days depending on the case, but we will try to expedite it as quickly as possible.'
While there were no CCTV cameras inside the massage parlour, police found footage outside the shop which showed Mr Saines alone and carrying a can of beer.
Mr Saines' wife was informed of his death at 3pm on Tuesday.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Sydney family of Palestinian woman from Gaza plead with home affairs minister over visa cancellation
The family of a Palestinian grandmother detained in Sydney by immigration authorities after a pre-dawn raid have pleaded with the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, for answers about her visa cancellation and 'real representation' to secure her freedom. Maha Almassri, 61, was on Thursday morning awoken by border force officers at her son's home in western Sydney. She had fled Gaza in February 2024 and entered Australia on a visitor visa shortly afterwards. She was granted a bridging visa in June 2024 after applying for a protection visa. Almassri was moved to Villawood detention centre on Thursday, after being told that her bridging visa had been cancelled after she failed a character test. According to the Migration Act, a person does not pass the character test if they have been assessed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) to be a direct or indirect risk to security. On Saturday, Mohammed Almassri, Maha's cousin, told Guardian Australia the family had been given no further information by the government explaining why she was detained and the nature of the threat she posed to national security. Addressing Burke – the local member for Watson, where Almassri's son lives – directly, Mohammed pleaded for his cousin's freedom. 'We need our auntie back, we need her freedom. She left Gaza [because of] the war and now you put her in detention – that's not right,' he said. 'Why did she fail the security check? Answer our question, please, Tony Burke.' He said the family and Muslim community felt let down by its local member. 'When he won, we thought he would represent our community,' Almassri said, adding the family was concerned about his cousin's physical and mental health as she remains in Villawood. 'We all worry about her because she feels alone, she feels down, she doesn't know what to do. The situation is horrible for her. She's crying all the time. I feel so sorry about her.' In a statement released on Friday, the family, led by Maha's brother-in-law, Soliman Almassri, said its members had voted for Burke after 'advice from community elders that minister Tony Burke [was] the best candidate to represent our community in the current climate'. 'We would like to see real representation of our family and an effective resolution to this dilemma,' they said. They said Almassri 'remains perplexed about the dawn raid' and they 'continue to comfort and reassure her that she is in a peaceful country where a fair justice system prevails'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Some media coverage of Maha's detention had spawned some 'vile anti-Muslim' sentiment, they said, urging the matter to be dealt with 'in accordance with human rights'. They said two other Palestinians from Gaza had also been detained by immigration authorities after raids, one of whom was understood to have been detained on Monday. Mohammed said neither was related to his family. Burke's office did not add to remarks made on Thursday, when the minister said he would not be commenting on the visa cancellation and that the information provided by the family was 'not necessarily consistent with the information supplied by our intelligence and security agencies'. On Friday, the shadow home affairs minister, Andrew Hastie, questioned the thoroughness of the security checks that had resulted in Almassri's visitor visa being granted. 'How does the government intend to remove this person from Australia given the minister previously said no one can be sent back to Gaza at the moment?' he asked, as reported by News Corp. The Almassri family's pleas come after a pro-Palestinian demonstration in western Sydney on Friday afternoon, which was attended by about 150 supporters. The protest, which one attender said was policed by about 50 police officers, took place outside SEC Plating in Belmore, the location of a scuffle that on 27 June left former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas in hospital with a serious eye injury and.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
How fallen A-League star admitted his role in shameful betting scandal - 'earn a little bit of coin'
A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card 'to earn a little bit of coin' during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell, a court has heard. Clayton Lewis, fellow midfielder Kearyn Baccus and a third player have been accused of manipulating yellow cards during matches in 2023 and 2024. The other footballer, 33, is yet to enter pleas to nine charges. Baccus, 33, and Lewis, 27, swapped football jerseys for crisp shirts as they faced a Sydney Local Court this week to plead guilty to engaging in conduct that corrupts the betting outcome of an event. A second charge of participating in a criminal group was withdrawn for both midfielders, who will return to court in September for sentencing. They agreed they had been paid $10,000 each by a teammate to deliberately earn the referee-issued disciplinary cautions for foul play during a match in December 2023. A former A-League player admitted to deliberately earning a yellow card 'to earn a little bit of coin' during a covertly recorded conversation in a police cell, a court has heard (pictured, ex- Macarthur Bulls star Clayton Lewis) According to the facts agreed by both his former teammates, the third player orchestrated 50 'suspicious' bets placed on the Macarthur FC game against Sydney FC through international wagering platform Betplay. The wagers were all placed at the same time before the match started, and all involved exactly two bets of equal amounts predicting the same outcome. During the game at Allianz Stadium, the alleged ringleader earned the first of the team's four yellow cards for delaying the start of play by kicking the ball away after the referee blew the whistle. Twenty minutes later, Lewis received the same caution for unsporting behaviour after he forcefully pushed a Sky Blues player in the chest. Baccus attracted another rebuke for tackling an opponent to the ground from behind towards the end of the game. The successful bets resulted in a payout of more than $200,000 and caused the wagering operator a loss of an estimated $167,387, according to the facts. There is no evidence either Baccus or Lewis had any involvement in placing the bets, but they agreed they were both paid $10,000 after the match. Lewis was paid in three instalments, but Baccus devised a more elaborate explanation, telling his former teammate to describe it as a car payment for a Volkswagen Golf. 'If anyone asks, you (are) buying a car off me,' he said in WhatsApp messages quoted in the facts. After his arrest, Baccus told police his teammate had not yet collected the car he sold him - while maintaining he only received yellow cards for playing aggressively or in service of the team. Lewis, meanwhile, was put in a holding cell after his arrest and confessed to the other occupant that he deliberately solicited a yellow card 'to earn a little bit of coin.' The conversation was recorded with a surveillance device. Lewis was recruited to the betting corruption scheme because he was known to be a gambler and thus seen as 'influenceable', according to the facts. The trio were suspended by Macarthur FC following their arrests, with the third player set to face court in August.


Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Who is mushroom killer Erin Patterson's dearest bosom buddy? Ali stood by her throughout everything - and was her ONLY friend in court when the jury found her guilty of murder
Apart from Erin Patterson 's own legal team, who were paid to be there, just one person turned up in court every single day to support the triple killer. Alison Rose Prior, known as Ali, has been the most devoted loyal friend Erin - or anyone else - could ever have hoped for. Day after day, regardless of the incriminating evidence, bitter cold or ever-growing media pack, Ms Prior stuck by her friend through thick and thin. And when the jury delivered its damning series of ' verdicts, it was Ms Prior the killer immediately turned to. 'See you soon,' Patterson told her bosom buddy before being led away to begin her likely life sentence behind bars for the three murders and one attempted murder. Ms Prior left the court thronged by media, and as she fought back tears behind large sunglasses, she told reporters: 'I'm saddened.' Escorted by G4S security staff through the precincts of Morwell Law Courts - where the Supreme Court had held Patterson's ten-week trial - Ms Prior battled to keep her composure. 'I didn't have any expectations,' she added. 'It's the justice system and it is what it is.' Patterson was later whisked away to Dame Phyllis Frost prison, 200km away on the other side of Melbourne, far from her Leongatha home in Gippsland. But despite the distance, Ms Prior immediately vowed to remain Patterson's best mate as the mother-of-two now faces decades behind bars. 'I will see her,' Ms Prior defiantly insisted to a reporter's question. 'I'm her friend and I'll see her - I'll visit with her.' Ms Prior begged media to leave her alone so she could get to her car. As a sign of the intensity and closeness of their relationship, Patterson has granted Ms Prior complete power of attorney over her estate, giving her carte blanche over her substantial wealth and property. The pair are believed to have met through Facebook, where Patterson was an avid contributor to several True Crime groups. Ms Prior, who has a daughter with a rare genetic condition, had previously campaigned locally to reform the law on registering sex offenders and to prevent them living near schools. In the weeks after the agonising deaths of her estranged husband's parents, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson - who were fatally poisoned by the beef Wellingtons she laced with death cap mushrooms - Patterson fled her Leongatha home as the net closed in on her. Patterson is said to have bunkered down at Ms Prior's four-bedroom bungalow, set in lush woodlands on the edge of rural Healesville, 65km north-east of Melbourne, as detectives pored over her own home looking for murder clues. Black sheets appeared around Patterson's Leongatha home ahead of the jury's verdict The night before Patterson was finally arrested, she threw a party at her home for Ms Prior and three other close female friends. On the evening of Wednesday, November 1, 2023, Patterson held the knees-up at the Leongatha property for her dwindling inner circle of friends. The weeknight gathering is believed to have been small and included Patterson's two children, a girl and a boy (who can't be identified for legal reasons). But it was still noisy enough that it was noticed by neighbours, who speculated Patterson threw the party in the certain knowledge that those murder charges were imminent. As the jury retired to consider her guilt 18 months later, it was rumoured Patterson would once again return to Ms Prior's home to hide out from the media if she was found innocent. Instead though, the jury unanimously found her guilty - and she was transported by prison van to her new jail cell as one of Australia's most notorious killers. The verdict ends one of the nation's most intriguing homicide cases - and now Patterson likely only has prison visits from Ms Prior to look forward to.