Bergen Area, Norway. The prosecution says a DNA match between samples found on Miss Witheridge's body and the two defendants is central to its case. Administratively it is a subdistrict (tambon) of Ko Pha-ngan District (amphoe) of Surat Thani Province. 92 Visitor. The father of murdered British backpacker Hannah Witheridge has wept as graphic photos of her body lying on a Thai beach were shown in court. [15] Experts have considered the forensic investigation to have been incompetent, and to have possibly framed the suspects. Staff checked her room to discover her mobile phone, passport and camera had all been left behind. [14][22] The police moved the bodies to prevent them being swept up in the rising tide. [62] They were both also charged with entering the country illegally, to which Wai Phyo had already confessed. [90][91], The 2014 murders, along with other deaths and disappearances of tourists, led to British tabloids labelling Koh Tao as "Death Island". Nick Pearson, 25, was found floating in an island bay, at the foot of a 50ft drop on New Years Day 2014. Thai beach murders: First pictures of British tourists battered to death on island The victims of the attack in Koh Tao have been named as 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge from Great Yarmouth. Burmese migrant workers made up an additional 5,000, around 2,000 of these being illegal immigrants who bribe local police by paying 500 baht each month. From: kohtao. Top Kurunegala Forests: See reviews and photos of Forests in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka on Tripadvisor. Available for both RF and RM licensing. The two men deny murdering Miss Witheridge, 23, from Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey. She added: The families of all the victims are not happy with the police reports, autopsy reports in Thailand dont match autopsy reports in the UK. [51], The prosecution also claimed the defendants entered the country in violation of the Immigration Act of 1979. The police were under pressure to produce results quickly, which affected how they conducted their investigation. "Another one of my sons was there with him, he was absolutely distraught looking at the police just laughing at him. It followed her reporting on the case of a British girl who was allegedly raped on the same beach. An inquest had been held in 2014 as his death was being treated as suspicious. It would be impossible, some of the boulders are so big they would have stopped him but he didnt have a single broken bone. We had one day on Koh Tao, it was really hard.". CTN News. Nick's mother Tracy Pearson, told Derby and South Derbyshire Coroner's Court in the U.K., she had "a gut feeling there was foul play". Both victims had been hit several times on the head; Witheridge had been raped, and Miller had been drowned. "At first, we accepted what the Thai authorities had said because we knew no different. Hotels near The Heart of Chechnya Hotels near State Gallery named after A. Save up to 30% when you upgrade to an image pack. A royal commutation does not require an admission of guilt. "I got him home and they had a proper postmortem - most of his bones were broken but the one bone that wasn't broken was his neck and there was no evidence of his face looking towards his back. British woman, Christina Annesley, 23, was found in a room at the In Touch Resort on Jan 21, 2015. The Koh Samui Provincial Court has set 24 December as the date to deliver its judgement on two Myanmar men, Zaw Lin and Zaw Ein Htun (aka Wai Phyo), who are accused of murdering two British tourists on Thailand's Koh Tao Island on September 15 last year. 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 5am, a few hours after their deaths. Koh Tao--a small island in the Gulf of Thailand, surrounded by pristine beaches, swathed in sunshine, and a mecca for tourists, divers and backpackers. Elise's mother Michele van Egten says she does not believe the Thai police's version of events amid fears authorities are working to suppress speculation about the many murders on the island. Valentina Novozhenova 2017; He was found hiding on the boat later on 2 October. 10 July 2015. 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. 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[53], The prosecution's case focused on findings of the police and medical examiner, with an emphasis on the DNA evidence. [44] In December 2014, the suspects were each indicted on five charges: premeditated murder, killing to conceal a criminal offence, rape, illegal entry into Thailand, and staying in the country without permission. Her mother, Michele claimed that Elise used a fake name of 'Elise Dubuis' to check into the Triple B Bungalows next to Mae Head Pier on Koh Tao. Or is Koh Tao just unlucky for visitors or is there something more sinister happening on the beautiful Thai island and haven for Scuba divers? Nick's father, Graham, had been the last person to see him when he walked with his son back to where the family was staying. A 28-year-old British guy. Book Koh Tao Cabana, Koh Tao on Tripadvisor: See 884 traveller reviews, 2,154 candid photos, and great deals for Koh Tao Cabana, ranked #14 of 194 hotels in Koh Tao and rated 4 of 5 at Tripadvisor. They had been brutally beaten to death just a few feet away from their hotel rooms. The island off the Surat Thani province coast has gained notoriety after a string of suspicious and sensationalised deaths over the years. [48], The guilty verdict resulted in widespread protests in Myanmar. The mum of Ben Harrington Pat was never convinced by the local police's explanation that her 32-year-old son broke his neck when he crashed into an electricity pylon on a night-time moped ride in August 2012. Tony Witheridge bowed his head as bloody images of. Elewana Tortilis camp is situated in the Western part of the Amboseli ecosystem, in the 30.0000-acre Kitirua Conservancy, bordering the Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Although Koh Tao is one of the . Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. September 23, 2014 5:57 AM EDT 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.. It has a population of around 1,500 people and the main settlement is Ban Mae Hat. Posts on social media said Dallemagne had booked a ticket to Chumphon province, on the mainland, and that her luggage arrived after her death, raising questions of her intentions to take her own life. These illegal workers often reside with friends on the island, making it difficult to identify them. Frenchman, Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanging from the beam of a rented house on January 1, 2015. Two of the victims were dismembered and disposed of in plastic bags. Police concluded she wanted to break a deep-diving record at more than 24 meters. Thailands prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, questioned the attire and behavior of foreign female tourists shortly after the killing of two British backpackers, David Miller and Hannah Witheridge on the island in 2014. A coroner ruled in 2017 said that there is "no evidence" to suggest Luke was murdered. 2023 BBC. It is always challenging to bring ACCURATE & RELIABLE information about violent crime on Koh Tao because too many people are frightened to speak out publicly and still others try to SHOOT THE MESSENGERS . Some sources also refer to Wai Phyo as Win Zaw Htun. [30] Thailand's National Human Rights Commission said "the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the two Myanmar workers were dubious, leading to impressions the suspects were not aware of their rights and that justice had not been done". We admit that in the past, there was a mafia there that took advantage of tourists. And at least six young Brits have all died in suspicious circumstances on the small island of Koh Tao, leading their loved ones to label it "Death Island". [64], Several CCTV cameras near the crime scene were reported to be nonfunctional, and cameras near the pier were not checked by the police. "[56] Attempts to appeal the sentence to the High Court in 2017 were unsuccessful. WARNING CONTAINS SOME DISTURBING IMAGES OF DEATH. The images shown to the court were graphic, reports Jonah Fisher in Thailand. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. [7][12], Miller and Witheridge were last seen at a bar called AC Bar[13] with friends at a party on Sunday night with around 50 people mostly foreign tourists before they left together after 1am. The Koh Tao murders involved the death of two British tourists in Thailand in 2014. The defendants have repeatedly stated their innocence over the murders, with the defence alleging they were framed. [74], The investigation was met with criticism by international media, human rights groups, and legal experts. Post-mortems found that Hannah had died from head wounds, while engineering student Mr Miller suffered severe blows to his head and drowned. He had recently returned to the island after building up a motorbike rental business. They weren't looked down upon or treated poorly at all. Available for both RF and RM licensing. Ben Harrington 2012; How long have Keir Starmer and Sue Gray been secretly cooking up their plot? Photograph: Alamy. The father of murdered British backpacker Hannah Witheridge has wept as graphic photos of her body lying on a Thai beach were shown in court. The autopsy stated he had drowned. Derby coroner Louise Pinder said there was not enough evidence to say how he died and recorded an open verdict. Murder of two backpackers on the island of Koh Tao SAIREE BEACH, KOH TAO, THAILAND - SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 British tourists Hannah Witheridge (23 years old) and David Miller (24 years old) enjoyed their holiday in Thailand on the famous island of Koh Tao. Zaw Lin was said to have entered between 2011 and 2012, and Wai Phyo in 2012. Upon arriving at the scene, police officers and rescue workers discovered the bodies of Mr Rakeshwar . [67][21][68] The conviction was primarily guided by the DNA evidence,[67][69] and the court said it did not consider their confessions in making the judgement. Hannah was a fun, vibrant and beautiful young woman who will be sorely missed by all who knew her. She added: "They didn't do any investigation at all. Belgian backpacker Elise Dallemagne, 30, was found hanging from a tree on April 27, 2017. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. They are said to have confessed to the crime but later retracted their statements. UK reporter Suzanne Buchanan has thoroughly investigated the cases alongside the deaths of Belgian Elise Dellemange, Swiss Hans Peter Suter and French Dimitri Povse -who also were also found dead under mysterious circumstances. Hotel owner Rakeshwar Sachathamakul has been found dead along with his wife in a luxury resort on Koh Tao. "We'll go with the flow as much as we can. GRAPHIC crime scene photos showing the corpses of English backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller have surfaced online, traumatising their families. 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. See the latest list of Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30320196. Koh Tao, where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered, is steeped in paradoxes. [38] Both men were 22-year-old illegal migrant workers from Rakhine, Myanmar, who worked in the hospitality industry. [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. Death sentences in Koh Tao killings commuted. [1][4][24] Witheridge's body indicated she had been raped. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. Two Burmese migrant workers, Zaw Lin and Win Zaq Htun, both 21, have been accused of murdering the two backpackers and of raping Hannah. The suspects were initially denied access to legal counsel, and alleged that police used torture and threats to secure a confession. BBC correspondent Jonah Fisher said Miss Witheridge's father and brother sat with their heads bowed as the evidence was presented in court but continued listening. The authorities said he had died after striking the diving board from which he was jumping. It is believed they were tortured, then burned, before being chopped . "We identified a person who was with her last and they didn't follow up with them- then we asked for a blood sample and they delayed. [63] They plead not guilty to the charge at the trial, but Wai Phyo changed his plea to guilty during the proceedings. They think our country is beautiful and safe and they can do whatever they want, wear bikinis wherever they like, the prime minister said. Buchanan told the Sun Online: They all died in really mysterious circumstances- the Thai version of Christina Annesleys death was that she died of natural causes, she's 23! They stated they were driven by a desire to rape the victim following sexual arousal when they saw the couple kissing on the beach. Hannah Witheridge 2014; [11] The two met in Koh Tao while staying at the same hotel. Top Rotherham Self-Guided Tours & Rentals: See reviews and photos of Self-Guided Tours & Rentals in Rotherham, England on Tripadvisor. Both were found dead on the bottom of a swimming pool at a seaside resort on Koh Tao in Surat Thani. About Nick Pearson they said he fell out of his bungalow and ended up drowning in the ocean. [37] Two weeks after the bodies were found, on 1 October 2014, police interrogated Mau Mau, who said he took the motorcycle and separated from the other two men before the murders occurred, and found them both home asleep by the time he had returned. Nick Pearson 2014; However, a lawyer for Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo told the BBC that the pair had not admitted their guilt when their death sentences were commuted. [51][21] The trial was attended by external observers, including representatives from Amnesty International and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. A Japanese high court approved Monday a posthumous retrial for a man who was convicted of murdering a 69-year-old woman in 1984 in western Japan, upholding a lower court's decision. The pictures, which News Corp Australia will not reproduce, were taken on the beach at Koh Tao, where the pair was hacked to death with a garden hoe, allegedly by two Burmese men who confessed to the bloody crime then withdrew their confessions. His body was found at the beach at the Hillside Resort on Koh Tao, on January 1, 2014. [52] The suspects were defended pro bono by two lawyers from the Lawyers Council of Thailand. But "Turtle Island" has its dark side. The former founder of the Samui Times suggests in her new book The curse of the Turtle, released earlier this month by WildBlue Press, that something fishy is going on on that island., She challenges the validity of the investigations conducted by the Thai police claiming she has a lot of evidence and speaks of powerful local families running the island without having to comply with any laws. Now their families are demanding answers. There is an alternative bus and ferry service run by Songserm, which is the cheapest way to get from Bangkok to Koh Tao. On Tuesday, new details emerged as police investigated the death of a wealthy billionaire industrialist and his wife on Ko Tao last Friday. Hi there! In 2018 in Cancn alone, there were 540 murders. While police claimed that she hanged herself, mystery surrounded her death, as it was revealed she used a fake name at the hostel she was staying. [15] Some migrants who were questioned complained that officers scalded them with boiling water during interrogations, allegations which were denied by the police. It leaves Khao San Songserm at either 1800 or 1900. We've all heard about the 2014 backpacker murders of two British tourists in Koh Tao, Thailand. Attempts to appeal the sentence failed, but a royal decree was issued by King Vajiralongkorn in 2020 commuting the death sentences to life imprisonment. It is not known who released the photos from the crime scene. A. Kadyrov Hotels near Museum of the Chechen Republic Hotels near The Flower Park Hotels near Visit Chechnya Hotels near Grozny City Observation Deck Hotels near Church of Archangel Michael Hotels near Makhmud Esambayev Avenue Hotels near Museum of Akhmat Khadzhy Kadyrov Hotels near Monument to the Fighters of the . Are there serial killers operating on the island, with their crimes apparently insufficiently investigated so that the tourist industry remains protected? Phone records showed that Elise called her mother on Skype on April 17, 2017, before leaving Koh Phangan on a Ferry on April 19. Tony Witheridge bowed his head as bloody images of his daughter's body were shown on the third day of the trial of Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo. At the time rumours of secret CCTV footage, inconclusive blood samples and a mysterious Swedish man, made Christinas dad suspicious. They suggested that she mixed antibiotics with alcohol- as much as that would make the antibiotics less efficient or make you feel bad, its not going to kill you. The family has contested the police version of events. The economy of the island is almost exclusively centered on tourism, especially scuba diving. He originally moved to the island in the late 1990s but left in 2016 after becoming frustrated with the corruption and hostility towards foreign business owners. The bungalow is 50ft above the ocean, theres nothing but massive granite boulders between his bungalow and the ocean so how did he managed to tumble all the way down there? https://time.com/3955081/thailand-koh-tao-murder-david-miller-hannah-witheridge-zaw-lin-wai-phyo-burma-myanmar/, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/dark-side-koh-tao-seven-10708561, https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/true-crime-in-the-outdoors/tag/Cases+on+the+Death+Island+of+Koh+Tao, https://www.nist.gov/feature-stories/dna-mixtures-forensic-science-explainer. With crystal-clear waters, perfect sandy beaches, palm trees and great nightlife. On September 20, 1988, Tara Calico left her home in New Mexico to go on a bike ride she took, In November 1981, actress Natalie Wood mysteriously drowned off the coast of Southern California during a boating trip with her, In July 2014, 52 year old Lynn Messer mysteriously disappeared from her familys 260-acre farm in Bloomsdale, Missouri. Their bodies were found on a beach on the island of Koh Tao last September. Constance Marten seen leaving court after appearing before magistrates charged with manslaughter of baby, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon blow each other a kiss in dock before court hears dead baby was found in bag in shed, Mum identified after dead baby is found on Canford Heath, Thai police covered up what really happened, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). [87][88] The protests angered Thailand's prime minister, who believed the demonstrations were a plot "instigated" to hurt the government. Police have, however, agreed to hand over the garden hoe which was the murder weapon, along with a shoe and a plastic bag. The discovery of the bodies last September sparked a major police investigation and intense local and international pressure to find those responsible. [92], Thailand's government became concerned the murders may affect tourism to the country. Koh Tao Murder - Thai Police, their scapegoats and tourist trade - Exposed by AnonymousThis video goes into the deep facts of the recent Koh Tao Island murder of David Miller and Hannah. The reporter was forced to leave the country she lived in for 20 years after Thai authorities issued an arrest warrant accusing her of publishing false information and violating the computer crime law.. Hannah was also raped in the attack. Read about our approach to external linking. Measuring 21 square kilometres (8sqmi) in area, it is the smallest of three popular tourist islands in the Gulf of Thailand. [1][51] According to an observer, the sittings lasted over ten hours each day. In accepting the 2nd retrial plea, sought by the family of Hiromu Sakahara, who died of illness aged 75 while serving his term in 2011, the Osaka High Court said . Allegations about police brutality rocked the countrys economy that almost solely relies on tourism. Koh Tao Murders: No DNA match with Warot in first test results By Coconuts Bangkok Oct 31, 2014 | 5:40pm Bangkok time Preliminary results today found no link between Warot Tuwichian and DNA police say was collected from the scene of two murders on Koh Tao last month. On February 16, 2015, Russian tourist Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao. Police major general, Surachate Hakparn, said in an interview that the police have cracked down on crime syndicates on Koh Tao since the backpackers double killing. Koh Tao ''Turtle Island'' or Ko Tao is an island in Thailand and is part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand. My YouTube channel is called KOH TAO MURDERS DEATH ISLAND. Rocio Gomez; As we continue with our plans for our beautiful Hannahs party, our thoughts are with David Millers family who are suffering the same indescribable agony. [1][31] Pornthip Rojanasunand, a Thai forensic scientist, testified at the trial that the crime scene was poorly managed.
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