[sticklist] - TAPS Francis Alex Degioanni '93

[Richard Forno]

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This one is personal - Frank was a good friend from our days at VF.

- -Rick '90 '92C


http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/591063

Canadian gunned down outside Thai condo

Real estate developer told farents that he feared for his life days  
before he was shot dead in Phuket

Feb 21, 2009 04:30 AM

Dale Anne Freed
Staff Reporter

A Canadian expatriate gunned down on his 34th birthday outside his  
Phuket condo building told his parents just days ago he feared for his  
life after a Thai business deal went wrong, his stepmother told the  
Star.

Francis Alex Degioanni, 34, a Quebec-born real estate developer, had  
just left his luxury condo on Patong Beach for an unscheduled business  
meeting when he was reportedly hit with a volley of shots fired by two  
men on motorcycles as he sat in his Toyota Royale at about 8:30 p.m.  
Thursday night.

The killers struck minutes after Degioanni left his 22-year-old wife,  
Nanthawadee Phenjaroenwatthana, for the meeting that interrupted their  
plans for a night out to celebrate his birthday.

Police and emergency crews from Patong Hospital and Kusoldharm  
Foundation rushed to the scene.

Degioanni's stepmother Charmaine Castonguay said she talked to him  
recently.

"He was very worried," Castonguay said from her home in Val-des-Monts,  
Que.

She said Degioanni was in the midst of a legal battle with a business  
associate to try to recover money.

It's not the first time Degioanni's life was endangered.

Just last month, he told his family he had been poisoned and spent  
time in hospital, according to local news reports.

Degioanni had been living in Thailand for the past nine years, selling  
condos there for five years, his stepmother said. He sold the condos  
to foreign tourists.

Degioanni, whose mother is now in Thailand, spoke to his Quebec  
relatives regularly on the phone, relaying his concerns in those calls.

"We speak to him every week," said his stepmother.

"It was his birthday Feb. 19th when he passed away ... it makes  
everything a little more complicated."

Degioanni was embroiled in a court battle with a former associate in  
which the Canadian complained he was cheated out of about $700,000 in  
a real estate deal, Kathu police Supt. Grissak Songmoonark told the  
online English-language Phuket Gazette.

Degioanni was hit by bullets in the chest, neck and arms, Kathu police  
told the newspaper.

Degioanni had planned to celebrate his birthday when he received a  
mystery call and had to rush out for a meeting, according to the  
Phuket Gazette.

Before launching a career as a real estate developer, Degioanni took a  
spin at modelling before moving to Thailand. He is the father of a 3- 
year-old daughter.

Sixteen years ago, Degioanni attended Valley Forge Military College in  
Wayne, Pa., where he was a cadet sergeant assigned to special  
services, which evolved around student activities, Col. Kenneth Seitz  
said in a phone interview.

"Character-development education" is the reason most students attend  
Valley Forge, he said.

Degioanni, who graduated in 1993, played intramural sports and  
belonged to the audio-visual program, flight club and French club.

With files from The Canadian Press

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