Matthew Winder is pictured with his girlfriend, Ayla Varoxis
The girlfriend of an Australian fitness fanatic who was found dead in a Thai prison cell has shared details of their final conversation, which occurred just 30 minutes before he was arrested over his drunken behaviour.
Matthew Winder, 31, was kicked out of a bar on the holiday island of Phuket in the early hours of Monday morning and taken into custody for drunk and disorderly behaviour after he reportedly yelled at hotel guests.
‘He told me that he drank too much and just wants to be home,’ Ayla Varoxis told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday morning.
Hours later, a Thai policeman found Mr Winder dead in his Patong Police Station cell, where he had been taken in a bid to ‘calm him down’.
Local authorities claimed an officer had ducked out to get lunch at 11.30am. He returned to find Mr Winder dead in a scene that appeared to indicate that he had taken his own life.
Thai authorities declared his death a suicide, but Ms Varoxis insisted he would not have taken his own life and had every intention of going home as planned on Tuesday.
‘I think he shouldn’t have been left alone in the state he was in,’ she said.
Matthew Winder dedicated a Facebook post to his girlfriend on Sunday, the night before he died (pictured)
‘I don’t believe Matty was suicidal. I spoke to him five hours prior to the incident. 30 minutes before he was arrested.
‘Yes he was intoxicated. But he just wanted to come home. He was not suicidal.’
On Sunday night, about 24 hours before he was arrested, Mr Winder posted a video of Patong Beach to social media, with the caption: ‘Goodnight Thailand. Missing my Ayla Varoxis.’
Three days earlier, he assured his girlfriend that he couldn’t wait to fly back home to Newcastle, north of Sydney in NSW, to see her and their young daughter McKenzie.
‘Okay you can come home now,’ Ms Varoxis wrote on social media. ‘It’s too quiet without you and I miss my shadow way too much.’
Mr Winder replied: ‘Only a few days to go baby I wish I was home right now xoxox love you to bits.’
Other photos and videos showed him puffing on cigarettes on the beach, drinking cocktails, smoking bongs, and hanging out clubs overlooking Phuket.
Ms Varoxis commented: ‘Well deserved break. Love and miss you.’
Matthew Winder and his girlfriend Ayla Varoxis (pictured together) lived with their daughter in Newcastle, NSW
Matthew Winder went to Thailand to get more face tattoos. He is pictured, right, outside a Phuket tattoo parlour
When speaking on Tuesday about his apparent suicide, Ms Varoxis said ‘foul play is in the mix and none of it makes sense’.
‘He had all intentions of coming home to his family… He was doing better than his usual and everyone he loves will agree,’ she added.
Friends have also lashed out over the suicide ruling, claiming there was likely much more to the story.
‘Suicide my a***,’ one friend wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
‘What’s a joke their police are. As if he quickly committed suicide in the half hour the guard has a break. Liars.’
Another friend said: ‘Devastating news I’m shattered to hear this. And truly believe there is something wrong with the story.’
Local news outlets stated police were called to the busy Kathu district where Mr Winder was supposedly found to be either ‘intoxicated by alcohol or on drugs’.
Provincial police chief Sermpan Sirikhong said he was ‘drunk and acting wildly’ when officers slapped handcuffs on him outside an entertainment venue on Bangla road.
At about midday on Monday, his body was discovered by a guard (scene pictured)
Authorities claim there is CCTV vision showing Mr Winder’s cause of death, but the claims are yet to be verified.
Ms Varoxis said her caring partner, who worked as a professional body piercer, was a kind and generous man who will be deeply missed.
‘I loved him with everything I have,’ she said.
‘Matty was an amazing man full of love for his family and friends.
‘He would happily give you the shirt off his back… and he made everyone around him smile.’
Thai police have confirmed there will be an autopsy and an official investigation is underway.
Mr Winder’s family found out about his death via the Australian Embassy. His body will be repatriated to Australia.
For confidential 24-hour support in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14.