Mourners say goodbye to Calgarian killed in Thailand

More than 600 mourners packed a Calgary church Thursday morning for the funeral of Leo Del Pinto, who was shot to death in northern Thailand last week.

Family members wept as Del Pinto's coffin, draped in a white cloth, was carried into Our Lady of Grace Church in northeast Calgary. Mourners overflowed into the church's foyer for the hour-long funeral mass.

There was no eulogy as Del Pinto's two sisters spoke during visitation on Wednesday night, but the 24-year-old is being remembered as a hero for coming to the aid of his friend Carly Reisig.

Reisig, who is still recovering inhospital in Thailand, said a man later identified as an off-duty Thai policeman punched her in the face as she and Del Pinto were leaving a restaurant in the town of Pai on Jan. 6. She said Del Pinto stepped in to defend her.

"The man fell down, he came back up with a gun in his hand," Reisig said in an interview with CBC News on Wednesday. "Leo tried to grab the gun and they had their hands in the air.

"The police officer got the gun, swung it around, pointed it not even a foot from Leo's head, shot him in the head. He fell down, shot him in the chest, moved the gun over to me and shot me right in the chest."

Sgt. Uthai Dechawiwat has been charged with premeditated murder and attempted murder. He is back on the job.

Reisig said she and Del Pinto were just horsing around, with her Thai boyfriend also accompanying them.

The Del Pinto familytold CBC NewsThursday afternoon that a Thai couple whowitnessed the deadly struggle have backed up Reisig's story to the Canadian consulate in Thailand.

Gun accidentally discharged, says Thai officer

But another witness saidshe felt the two Canadians were fighting.

Saiijai Gawin said she alerted off-duty police who were dining at her Pai restaurant about a fight between Del Pinto and Reisig.

"They were fighting loudly," she said. "I said, 'Why don't you go check what's happening with the fighting.'"

Dechawiwat re-enacted his role in the shooting for police last week, telling his colleagues that he clearly identified himself as a police officer and that Reisig attacked him.

He said he struggled with Del Pinto for the gun in self-defence, and that the three bullets he fired were accidentally discharged.

"I heard he wants to press charges against me for assault. I never laid a hand on the guy," said Reisig, who is originally from Chilliwack, B.C.

"And the thing with that is if he presses charges against me, I'm unable to leave Thailand. I have to stay here until the trial is finished. I don't know how long that's going to be and I'm not safe."

Del Pinto's family said they have little faith in a system they call corrupt, and are lobbying the Canadian government to pressure Thai authorities to find out what really happened.