These illegal workers often reside with friends on the island, making it difficult to identify them. [47] Thailand's National Human Rights Commission attempted to investigate the allegations, but police representatives did not appear at four scheduled meetings. These rocks are no strangers to explosive secrets. The bodies of Mr Miller and Miss Witheridge were found on a beach on the Thai island of Koh Tao in 2014. Post-mortems found that Hannah had died from head wounds, while engineering student Mr Miller suffered severe blows to his head and drowned. However, the defense counsel argued all the evidence against the defendants was circumstantial, and the police had no known eyewitness to the murders. [1][47] The national police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, denied that torture was involved in the confessions. Lin and Phyo (also known asWin Zaw Htun)were sentenced to death for the murder of Mr Miller and the murder and rape of Ms Witheridge. 2040 / 2557, Regional Court of Appeal VIII No. [1][15][21], During an hours-long interrogation, during which the police used Burmese food vendors as interpreters[35] because the pair could not speak Thai,[41] the suspects confessed to the murders. Speaking exclusively to TIME at Koh Samui Prison, both appear much younger than their 22 years. Feuding here is common and vicious. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? At one establishment by Chalok Baan Chao, joints are sold for 200 baht ($6) while a magic mushroom milkshake costs 700 baht ($20). Their bodies were found close to the beach bungalows where they had been staying. By the time dawn broke over Koh Tao, the beach had been . Credit: British Foreign Office That's when the killers pounced. Read about our approach to external linking. However, the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment following a royal decree commemorating King Vajiralongkorns birthday. Thai king commutes Myanmar men's death sentence over Britons' murder Witheridge was a graduate from the University of East Anglia who had been studying for a masters degree in speech and language therapy. British backpacker Thailand murders: What happened to David Miller and Sister, 30, of murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge dies [4][11][14] Their bodies were discovered on Sairee Beach a few hours later, between 4 and 5am, by a mute Burmese beach cleaner. Witheridge is a native of Great Yarmouth in the Southwest coast of England. 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 team were only allowed to spend two hours on Koh Tao and did not meet with the suspects or defence. [42][43] The police said the suspects' DNA matched a sample of semen taken from Witheridge's body, and to the hoe and cigarette butts found near the body. The bodies of David Miller, 24, from Jersey and Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, were found on a beach on Koh Tao in September 2014. With no leads or suspects, the police wildly speculated who the culprit might be as they alleged several individuals to be the supposed killer without any evidence. [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. Case over Hannah Witheridge and David Miller's deaths on Thai island 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 police quickly elicited a confession and, after a macabre reconstruction of the murders before a swarm of media including a staged session of penitent prayers by the accused probably hoped that the case looked closed. [1] Police revealed that the samples from Witheridge's body were used up,[62][27] but were able to provide DNA samples from the murder weapon. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. [59] The defence struggled to find members of the public willing to testify at the trial, as many feared retribution,[1][60] hence their alibi was not considered convincing by the court. This is the wild west.. The island of Koh Tao is located in Southern Thailand. However, the investigators quickly dismissed him as a suspect. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have been named as the two tourists who chopped up by a hoe in Thailand. Thai king commutes sentence of UK pairs killers, Russia launches missile attacks on Ukraine, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, JP Morgan snaps up troubled US bank First Republic. Naked bodies of two British tourists found on Thai beach | PIX11 A royal decree said the sentences had been reviewed to commemorate King Vajiralongkorn's birthday on 28 July and to "illustrate the king's clemency". Family members of Hannah Witheridge comfort one another at the headquarters of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok, on Sept. 18, 2014, Burmese migrant workers Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin arrive at the Koh Samui Provincial Court, in Koh Samui, Thailand, on July 8, 2015, Police measure footprints of a man as data is collected from people who work near the spot where bodies of two killed British tourists were found, on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand, on Sept. 19, 2014, David Miller, 24, from Jersey, left, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, Thailand is Suffering From The Worst Drought in Decades. [51] This decision was criticised by the Solicitors International Human Rights Group, one of the observers at the trial. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. [31] A British defence lawyer, Felicity Gerry QC, said the trial was "far too rushed and unfair to the defense". Mr and Mrs Miller, from St Helier, said: "Every moment we miss our son. David Miller, 24. According to the prosecutors, the defendants used the garden hoe to knock Hannah unconscious and held her down as they raped her before murdering her. Naturally, a pall of silence engulfs this clannish, cliquey atoll, owing in no small part to the legal standing of its foreign contingent. The family travelled to see parts of the subsequent trial of the two young Burmese migrant workers accused of the murders, partly paid for by a crowdfunding appeal set up to cover the costs of travel and translation at the hearings. [15], Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo retracted their statements following a visit from a consular lawyer for Myanmar and said they had made their statements under duress, after they had allegedly been beaten, left naked in a freezing room, and threatened with electrocution and an extrajudicial killing. After the court ordered the DNA to be tested again on July 10, the head of Thailands Central Institute of Forensic Science found that the DNA sample on the hoe did not match the defendants. Miller had scratches on his back and water in his lungs indicating drowning. "The final admittance of their guilt has allowed this act of clemency to become possible," they continued. T he brutal murder of British tourists Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on the Thai resort island of Koh Tao, has reverberated around the world.. Beach cleaners discovered the Britons . [1][31] Pornthip Rojanasunand, a Thai forensic scientist, testified at the trial that the crime scene was poorly managed. The bodies of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, were found on a beach on Koh Tao in September 2014. [31][65] Jane Taupin, an Australian forensic scientist brought in by the defence, claimed that the timeline of DNA extraction was dubious; a rapid analysis of DNA samples had happened in less than 12 hours,[34] which she said was unusual because "extracting DNA from mixed samples was difficult and time-consuming". Backpacker's family 'grateful' for Thai king's clemency - BBC News islands volcanic inception. Thai court upholds death penalty over murder of two Britons [47][75][12] Human Rights Watch said the case was "profoundly disturbing" and called for the verdict to be reviewed in a "transparent and fair appeal process". She was just one of those beautiful, bubbly people, amazing inside and out. The families that run the island and police that guard it deny any involvement with narcotics. 23 Sep 2014. Will [tourists] survive in Thailand if they dress in bikinis? he asked Sept. 17. The officers also charged Wai with stealing Davids mobile phone. The two were said to have been backpackers going through the tiny island of Koh Tao. The two young tourists were killed in the early hours of 15 September, 2014, after which their relatives endured a long wait for justice. Only if they are not beautiful." It has over 100 hotels and resorts and was deemed the busiest diving centre in Southeast Asia in 2014. Mau Mau claimed he left on his motorcycle and returned home later to find his co-riders asleep. The DNA specialist conceded the perpetuators could've used gloves. The children always loved her. David Miller and Hannah Witheridge only met each other 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. Sean . The family of murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge has been hit by a fresh tragedy with the sudden death of her sister. [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. [29][30] The police initially speculated about who the culprit might be, alleging various individuals of perpetrating the crime without clear evidence. Sister of murdered Brit backpacker died 9 weeks into pregnancy and 'no "But in the end the truth has been revealed," the couple added. 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. David Miller, 24, from Jersey, was found murdered alongside Hannah . [10][32] They highlighted a British tourist who had shared a room with Miller as a suspect, labelling it a "crime of passion"; he became the subject of a nationwide manhunt before the police quickly dropped the lead. They took the victim away in a pickup truck and the barman just got a mop out and cleaned up the blood, he says. The family of Hannah Witheridge, a backpacker who was murdered in Thailand, have had their "hearts broken" by a second death. Since then, he had managed to send back almost $2,000 to help his destitute family. [21][25] There was tearing present at the vulva, bruising on the perineum, and a bite mark on her right nipple. [48][35] A 900-page police report was produced to guide the prosecution's case, but the defence were not allowed to see the report until the trial began. Sean McAnna (25), from Shotts near Glasgow, was a friend of David Miller, the tourist whose body was found last week on Koh Tao island along with that of Hannah Witheridge. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The pairs trial began on July 8, 2015, with the prosecution highlighting the DNA evidence and police findings as their primary strategy. A royal commutation does not require an admission of guilt, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok. Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo know this too well. Their senseless deaths sparked international outrage and raised questions about j Miss Witheridge, a University of Essex student from Hemsby, Norfolk and Mr Miller, a civil and . "But in the end the truth has been revealed," the couple added. The largest and most developed is Koh Samui, which also boasts the archipelagos only international airport. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller's bodies were found on a beach in Koh Tao in September 2014 Two Burmese migrants convicted over the killings had their death sentences reduced to life.