They threatened to kill me, saying: We can throw you into the sea and feed your corpse to the fish.. Junta chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha enraged many by hinting that the blame, at some level, lay with the attractive victims. But in Thailand, the police perform the entire process. The DNA analysis in the case, which was not subject to independent oversight or verification, was provided to the court as a one-page summary with four supporting pages, some of it handwritten with amendments. This was very different. ITV reports that the suspect may be a friend of either Witheridge or Miller. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Their senseless deaths sparked international outrage and raised questions about justice on Koh Tao. Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo know this too well. Sister of murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge was pregnant when she Police obtained CCTV footage from local bars and restaurants and zeroed in on three men riding a motorcycle to 7-Eleven on the night of the murder. The sweet reek of marijuana is commonplace even in prominent beachfront bars, while cocaine and crystal meth, known locally as yaba or crazy drug, are not hard to find, say locals. Hannah Witheridge (left), 23, and David Miller, 24, were killed on the island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2015. Wai Phyo, a Real Madrid fanatic who idolizes FIFA world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, moves a virtually hairless top lip as he talks. The bodies of Mr Miller and Miss Witheridge were found on a beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao in 2014. Sean . The two men were convicted and sentenced in 2015 and the verdict was upheld by an appeals court in 2017 and the Supreme Court in August 2019. After unsuccessfully trying to find their possessions, they walked towards Mau Mau's house through the shortcut, which resulted in them being caught on CCTV. My father died when I was very young, says Zaw Lin, so l left school aged 8 and started helping my mother in the fields when I was 10. Facing worsening poverty, around two years ago he paid a broker 5,000 baht ($150) to transport him to Koh Tao, heartened by tales hed heard of fellow villagers who had eked out a successful living there. [47] Thailand's National Human Rights Commission attempted to investigate the allegations, but police representatives did not appear at four scheduled meetings. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital (modern). The convictions were mired in controversy, with supporters of the two men arguing they had been framed because their initial confessions were made under duress. Foreigners die surprisingly often here. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, This Septic Isle: Backpackers, Bloodshed and the Secretive World of Koh Tao. They were at the bar with around 50 people mostly foreign tourists before they left together after 1:00 am. [50], An 18-day trial began on 8 July 2015 in the Koh Samui Provincial Court. Ringed by coral gardens and teeming with kaleidoscope shoals of tropical fish, it was primarily known, until now, for its diving. (Both families declined to comment when contacted by TIME.). [46] The police then forced the suspects to re-enact the murder in front of media,[34] a move condemned by legal experts as prejudicing a fair hearing. Zaw Lin was said to have entered between 2011 and 2012, and Wai Phyo in 2012. On 15 September, the bodies of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found on Sairee Beach on the island of Koh Tao, between 4 and 5 am, a few hours after their deaths. "The final admittance of their guilt has allowed this act of clemency to become possible," they continued. White sand beaches, untouched jungles, cloudless skies. The police were under pressure to produce results quickly, which affected how they conducted their investigation. He later apologised for the comment after it was met with public backlash. They also raised concerns with the absence of legal counsel prior to the confession, as well as difficulties with translation and interpretation. But many have concerns that the scene was contaminated immediately after the discovery of the bodies; myriad officials, journalists and even bewildered tourists were seen traipsing through the area while evidence was still being gathered. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? Hannah was also raped. True Crime: In September of 2014, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found on Koh Tao's famous Sairee beach, dead. [1] After initially failing to find a match to one of the migrant workers, the police focused their attention on Western tourists related to the victims. Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found dead on the island of Koh Tao on 15 September last year. Case 220: Hannah Witheridge & David Miller - Casefile True Crime On July 10, the bench again ordered the DNA to be retested, only for the police to reveal that certain key samples specifically those retrieved from the victims bodies had been used up. The Daily Telegraph reports that the two were seen leaving a bar at around 1 a.m. Sky News reports that Witheridge had been traveling with three friends. They also. In September 2014, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller only met by chance while backpacking on the island, but when their bodies were found together on Sairee Beach, they would become linked forever by a tragic mystery. The bodies of Miss Witheridge and 24-year-old David Miller, from Jersey, were found on the resort island of Koh Tao in 2014. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? The Koh Tao murders involved the death of two British tourists in Thailand in 2014. Legally, it would seem quite easy to shut these dive shops down., Insecure residency tends to breed compliance. They still maintain their innocence, as they did throughout the trial. WHEN Susan Witheridge heard her daughter Hannah wanted to go to Thailand she was terrified. He was interrogated and captured while his clothes and motorcycle were seized as evidence. All Rights Reserved. . She added, She always got along well on placement. V z 2014 23let absolventka University of East Anglia, kter studovala magistersk titul v oboru logopedie. Zaw Lin, as pimply as any teen, chats eagerly of his love of Manchester United and star Portuguese winger Nani. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, commute his murderers' death sentences to life in prison, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, JP Morgan snaps up troubled US bank First Republic, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Indian 'killer' elephant relocated to tiger reserve, Trump says 'great to be home' on visit to Scotland, Ding becomes China's first male world chess champion, Father tells how gunman opened fire on Texas home. David worked as an intern in the St Helier offices of the Australian mining company Consolidated Minerals. The head of the country's Central Institute of Forensic Science found that the DNA on the hoe did not match the defendants. During the trial, the prosecution also claimed Davids stolen phone was discovered smashed at the home of a friend of Zaw Lins. She was buried the following month near her family home following a service billed as a celebration of her life, with mourners encouraged to wear bright colours. [1][11][18] A bloody hoe, believed to be the murder weapon, and a wooden club were found near the bodies,[19][4][14] along with three cigarette butts and a used condom. British backpacker Thailand murders: What happened to David Miller and Thai police say concrete evidence links Burmese suspects to Britons According to reports, they allegedly confessed to the murders, stating the migrant workers wanted to rape Hannah after getting aroused while reportedly seeing her kissing David on the beach. Photograph: PA. Rights groups have said the pair were used as scapegoats by the . Backpacker's family 'grateful' for Thai king's clemency Koh Tao's dark side: dangers of island where Britons were murdered After finally receiving independent legal counsel, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, who had no prior criminal records, claimed they had been tortured during interrogation and recanted. [15] Public prosecutors initially rejected the report, asking for "certain flaws" to be fixed, more information to be supplied, and for the report to be made "more succinct". Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, a seaside town on the English east coast, had been raped and killed by blows to the head. Thailand backpacker murders: bar workers found guilty of killing British tourists, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. The island of Koh Tao is located in Southern Thailand. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have been named as the two tourists who chopped up by a hoe in Thailand. They took the victim away in a pickup truck and the barman just got a mop out and cleaned up the blood, he says. Its also reported that Witheridge had been raped prior to her death, those reports were later found to be unfounded. grassroots elite basketball ; why does ted lasso have a southern accent . ; Drugs play a key role. The officers also charged Wai with stealing Davids mobile phone. Hannah Witheridge, 23,front left, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, middle right, from Jersey, were brutally killed on the island of Koh Tao last September The family of Hannah Witheridge, a backpacker who was murdered in Thailand, have had their "hearts broken" by a second death. Miller had been a student at Victoria College, a fee-paying school on Jersey. [94] She suggested using identification wristbands for tourists to improve safety, but the idea was quickly scrapped. The episode tries to deconstruct the complex case for the listeners as it narrates the incidents chronologically and questions several alleged incompetencies in the murder probe. Few of the visitors on Sairee Beach today are even aware the murders took place. Hannah metDavid Miller by chance when they and their friends stayed in adjoining rooms of the Ocean View Bungalows, a small backpacker complex overlooking the white sand sweep of Sairee beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao. Some sources also refer to Wai Phyo as Win Zaw Htun. Corpse photos of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on internet They flee extreme poverty and ethnic violence in Burma (officially now known as Myanmar), the legacy of a half-century of civil war and suffocating military dictatorship. Theories abound on Koh Tao about who killed Miller and Witheridge. This is the wild west.. [20] Both bodies were found semi-naked;[21] a pile of clothes was found nearby. Speaking exclusively to TIME at Koh Samui Prison, both appear much younger than their 22 years. Nice and strong, grins the heavily tattooed barman. There are no official figures for the number of expats who call Thailand home, but it likely runs into the hundreds of thousands. The exact area where there bodies were found was the village of Hat Sat Ri. It was said the pair went swimming on the same beach earlier that night, and when they got out of the water they found their clothes had disappeared. Credit: British Foreign Office That's when the killers pounced. [2] In 2014, the island had a population of around 5,000 locals. [74], The investigation was met with criticism by international media, human rights groups, and legal experts.