A California man was beaten and stabbed to death in Bangkok after pleading with his ex-girlfriend to reunite, sparking a violent showdown authorities call a “relationship dispute.”
Stein Heath Cole, 54, died Monday afternoon after a chaotic street fight erupted outside a shop in the Thai capital.
Police say the confrontation began around 4:30 p.m. when Cole approached his former girlfriend, 24-year-old Nan Phawt Ar Cho, and asked her to take him back.
Her current boyfriend, 26-year-old Saw Nay Lin Oo, along with three other men, allegedly stepped in.
Investigators claim Cole arrived carrying a 10-inch kitchen knife, which fueled the confrontation and triggered the deadly clash.
By the time it ended, Cole lay on the pavement with both legs broken and five stab wounds. A 10-inch knife and a metal pipe were recovered nearby.
Authorities charged four men with “jointly assaulting another person, causing death.” One of the suspects suffered a stab wound during the fight and was hospitalized.
Bangmod Police Superintendent Col. Sonchai Poonphol described the violence as the culmination of weeks of tension.
“This incident was caused by a personal relationship dispute. The deceased could not accept their break-up and had been following his ex-girlfriend continuously,” Poonphol stated.
Police allege Cole had been living alone in an apartment across from the shop where the attack unfolded.
“On the day of the incident, he is said to have produced a knife, provoking the suspects to intervene and attack him,” Poonphol explained.
The suspects told police they never intended to kill him. “The suspects claimed that they had no intention to kill, but the situation became chaotic, and they lost control,” the superintendent added.
Authorities identified the other three suspects as Saw Kyaw Win Tun, Saw Kyaw Htunt Paying and Thien Oo, who is the ex-girlfriend’s brother.
Police indicated the woman’s relatives opposed her relationship with the American and had tried to break them apart.
“Relatives of the woman did not approve of her relationship with the American man and had been trying to separate them. He was described as aggressive, prone to outbursts, and a heavy drinker,” Poonphol said.
Investigators noted that Cole had no occupation and had been renting a room in the same apartment building as the woman’s family.
“Both the woman’s family and the American were staying in the same apartment building. There had been previous confrontations between him and her relatives,” Poonphol stated.
Officials coordinated with the U.S. Embassy following the killing.
“The American man had no occupation. He had been renting a room there and was living alone. We have already coordinated with the U.S. Embassy on Monday. All four suspects have been charged with jointly assaulting another person, causing death. Initial witness statements indicate that the motive stemmed from a romantic dispute and family conflict,” he added.
The deadly fight in Bangkok comes as another American expatriate was found slain thousands of miles away in Costa Rica.
Kurt Van Dyke, 66, a longtime California surfer who owned a hotel in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, was discovered dead inside his apartment Saturday.
Authorities reported signs of asphyxiation and multiple stab wounds following a preliminary examination.
Investigators believe two armed men forced their way into the apartment while Van Dyke and his 31-year-old girlfriend were inside.
The girlfriend told police the men bound her hands and feet with zip ties while she was showering and assaulted her.
She survived the ordeal and reported that valuables were stolen, including a 2013 Hyundai Elantra.
Security cameras captured two suspects fleeing in the Elantra and a second vehicle. Officials have not announced arrests or a motive.
Van Dyke’s death stunned both his adopted Costa Rican community and his hometown of Santa Cruz, California.
His childhood friend Dave Smith recounted a call from Van Dyke’s oldest son.
“Well, someone murdered my father,” Smith recalled the son telling him.
Smith said his response was disbelief. “You know, it’s one of those things you just can’t believe: Kurt was very famous around here for just being a really good surfer,” Smith told KSBW.
He described Van Dyke as a local legend. “Everybody knew him — everybody that’s from Santa Cruz originally, and even people generationally, they know of him. Their kids know him, too.”
Smith compared Van Dyke to a Hollywood icon. “If there is a Steve McQueen of surfing, it would have been Kurt Van Dyke. He just had the swagger. He had the look — ever since he was 13 years old. And he had that softness about him.”
Van Dyke’s brother Peter voiced suspicion that the killing may have involved deeper issues than a burglary.
“There are people who like him and there are people who don’t. It was more nefarious,” Peter told The Post.
The brothers spoke weekly, and Peter said Kurt had recently assured him that “he had everything under control.”
Friends and family described Van Dyke as generous and steady.
“My brother was a very benevolent, giving person who would help just about anybody,” Peter told the San Francisco Chronicle via text.
“Kurt would never hurt anybody, and he was always there when you needed him. Everyone that he met knew this about him.”
Van Dyke spent decades running his hotel along Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast and built a reputation chasing powerful waves at Salsa Brava.
The Chronicle noted that “Van Dyke became known among the Caribbean coast’s surfing community as ‘King’ for his mastery of big waves.”
Authorities in both cases continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the killings, as families on two continents grapple with sudden, violent loss.
