Miller had scratches on his back and water in his lungs indicating drowning. He said more security cameras would be installed on beaches. Two weeks later, two illegal Burmese migrant workers were blamed for the deaths, primarily on the basis of DNA evidence, and confessed following an hours-long interrogation. [1] Receiving half a million visitors each year,[1] Koh Tao is especially popular with backpackers and known for its marine life and scuba diving. Doubts lingered over the conviction of two migrant Burmese workers for the rape and murders, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo (also known as Win Zaw Htun). Christina, from Orpington, South East London, died shortly after arriving on Koh Tao. Try for $0.00. There were no signs of a struggle or rape or other human DNA. Frenchman, Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanging from the beam of a rented house on January 1, 2015. The mother told Der Farang magazine that she had been promised an autopsy report - but has still not been delivered. [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. Ms Witheridge, from Hemsby in Norfolk, and Mr Miller, from Jersey, were murdered on the popular holiday island on September 15. The official story is they were walking back to their hotel at night and were jumped by 2 Burmese men. Read about our approach to external linking. Investigators had no theory to explain her unexpected stopover on Koh Tao on her way back to the mainland and the capital Bangkok. [11], An autopsy revealed that both victims were hit by a hard object resulting in head and face wounds. He also had to track down a man seen on surveillance footage leaving his daughter's flat hours before she was discovered. Dec. 24, 2015. They had no prior criminal records. Koh Tao has long had a reputation as a home for organized crime, corruption and as a place where the police protected local interests. [52] The suspects were defended pro bono by two lawyers from the Lawyers Council of Thailand. The economy of the island is almost exclusively centered on tourism, especially scuba diving. Had he hanged himself, the professor pointed out that the bruises should have appeared on the neck than on his wrists. [47] Thailand's National Human Rights Commission attempted to investigate the allegations, but police representatives did not appear at four scheduled meetings. ISBN: 9780062802910. He announced that he had "ordered all security-related agencies to track down those who are behind the Myanmar demonstrations". Passport photos of David William Miller, and Hannah Victoria Witheridge, both 24, were placed on this memorial on Koh Tao on Wednesday. Ms Taupin did note however that the document that the prosecution relied upon was an Unendorsed Report in that it had no seal or stamp certifying that it had been produced by an accredited laboratory and in accordance with international standards. 2023 BBC. Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the killings. The robbery took place on Koh Tao island's Sairee beach at the same spot where islanders found the disfigured bodies of David Miller, a 24-year-old from Jersey, and Hannah Witheridge, a. Hannah was raped before she was killed. The following morning the family raised the alarm when Nick failed to answer the door. Now their families are demanding answers. But among some foreigners, Koh Tao has taken on a more sinister reputation. Dubbed 'Death Island', the illusion of a safe haven has since shattered following the brutal deaths of a number of tourists. She had checked into the hostel on February 11 and was due to check out on February 16 but failed to do so. They said Wai Phyo found the mobile phone dropped on the beach, and so he kept it. While collecting forensic evidence, tourists and locals were allowed to walk on the beach. [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. Here's a timeline of the other suspicious deaths and disappearances on Koh Tao: On New Year's Day, 2014, before the Miller and Witheridge case first brought infamy to Koh Tao, 25-year-old Brit Nick Pearson was found dead in the water not far from the scene of that subsequent double murder. Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo (also known as Win Zaw Htun). [63] They plead not guilty to the charge at the trial, but Wai Phyo changed his plea to guilty during the proceedings. I should add that I was not representing the accused men so I am not presenting arguments on their behalf in any lawyer/client relationship. Elise fled 2.5km to through the jungle to Tanote Bay and took a room at the Poseidon Resort where she booked another ticket for Bangkok leaving on April 24. One of the first famous crime scene photos was taken on May 5, 1903, in the home of a Parisian woman named Madame Debeinche who had been murdered. He started another business in neighboring island Koh Phayam before returning in March 2018 to "tie up loose ends". Bernd had also recently separated from his wife, Oey, a Koh Tao native, with whom he had a seven-year-old daughter, Bene, who had been living for the last two years with his sister, Monica, in Germany. 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. The teen's body was found seven days after the boating accident. Thai police arrest men accused of murdering Brits on Koh Tao Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the killings. There were no signs of fighting or a struggle, nor were foreign objects or substances that could cause loss of consciousness found in the body.. 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 . An English human rights activist by the name of Andy Hall asked me to put him in touch with the Melbourne forensic expert, Jane Taupin which I did. His parents believe he was murdered - despite police claims he fell 50ft and drowned. [42] In the trial, the prosecution said the phone was found smashed at the home of a friend of Zaw Lin's. They believed he had accidentally drowned and he was thought to have been dead for around 12 hours when his body was retrieved. Thai police said a post-mortem examination showed he drowned. Nov. 3, 2018. Controversially, Surat Thani governor Auaychai Innak dismissed as untrue some foreign news reports which claimed reptiles had eaten half of Dallemagne's body. ", Mrs Miller said: "It's been hard, very hard. Yoshie Sazawa (Sharlyn) 2004; He was discovered floating in the water by a member of hotel staff, with his death coming just days after a tragic final Facebook post on New Year's Eve, in which he said: "Can honestly say this new year I am living the dream". Despite claims of a fall, he had no broken bones. From the beginning, the Thai police had difficulty securing the crime scene. For a second day in a row Taiwan has reported a large-scale air force incursion, escalating tensions in the region. The Thaiger 116K subscribers Join Subscribe 712 Share 29K views 10 months ago #thailand #kohtao #thailandtourist We've all heard. [93] Amid the investigation, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul visited Koh Tao on 28 September 2014 in an attempt to reassure tourists. Photographs of the bodies . The Koh Tao murders involved the death of two British tourists in Thailand in 2014. Samui Times defended its reporting in an online post. A young backpacker has become the latest tourist found dead on Thailand's notorious 'death island', Tanote Bay in Koh Tao where a backpacker was found dead on April 27, Sairee beach where Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found bludgeoned to death, Chillingly, the death of Elise appears to have been suppressed by Thai authorities, Elise Dallemange, 30, here pictured with mum Michele, had been living at a yoga and tantra retreat, Elise had been travelling around Asia for the last two years, Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered in September 2014, Hannah is pictured (right) with her sister Laura, Luke Miller was found dead in a swimming pool in Koh Tao, Thai police have been accused by his family for not investigating the murder fully, Christina Annesley, 23, died on the island in January 2015, Christina's parents slammed Thai authorities for failing to investigate the death, Nick Pearson's parents are convinced their son was murdered in Koh Tao, Valentina Novozhyonova, 23, vanished from her hostel on Koh Tao in March, She had checked into the hostel on February 11 and was due to check out on February 16, Frenchman Dimitri Povse, 29, was found hanged in a bungalow on the island. Hannah, 23, from Hemsby, Norfolk, and David Miller, 24, from Jersey, were found dead on the island of Koh Tao on September 15. [1][15][16] Miller's body was found floating in the water, and Witheridge's on the beach;[17] the bodies lay approximately 20 metres apart and 30 metres away from their hotel (Ocean View Bungalows). The trial provided an obvious example of Scientific Fraud being used to convict two scapegoats. Eight days later when locals living near the island's idyllic Tanote Bay became suspicious of a monitor lizard going back and fourth into the jungle they discovered Elise's half-eaten body on May 27 among rocks behind the Tanote Family Bay Resort. Most are running guesthouses, eateries and scuba-diving operations or working as diving instructors. BANGKOK A Thai court sentenced two men from Myanmar on Thursday to death for the murder of two British tourists last year, ending a high-profile trial shadowed . Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. 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. koh tao murders crime scene photos. The prosecution says a DNA match between samples found on Miss Witheridge's body and the two defendants is central to its case. "So for an hour the families of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller looked and listened as crime scene pictures were shown in court.". [1][47] The national police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, denied that torture was involved in the confessions. Andy was assisting the defence lawyers. On tiny Koh Tao, there are some 2,000 expats alongside the 2,500 registered Thais, according to Mayor Chaiyan Turasakul. [23] Local residents blocked the pier to prevent the unidentified killers from leaving the island. 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. In 2014, Koh Tao was the site of the brutal double murders of two British backpackers, but theirs weren't the only suspicious backpacker deaths. Most mainstream media provide only superficial accounts of what has been happening on the island and their published information is often inaccurate and understated the seriousness of the situation. The island of Koh Tao, off the coast of Thailand, is often described as a paradise. Brits Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were murdered as they walked back to their hotel rooms in September 2014. 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. If you are interested, I have further information on my social media accounts. Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin during a police "re-enactment" of the crime on Koh Tao. Hannah Witheridge 2014; Hanspeter Suter 2014; 2145/2559, "Two British tourists found dead on Thai island of Koh Tao", "Suspects in Thai Tourist Murders Face Dubious Trial", "Manhunt underway after brutal murder of 2 British tourists on Koh Tao", "Thailand's paradise island murder mystery", "What the Murder of Two British Tourists Tells Us About Thailand's Dark Side", "Thailand's Supreme Court upholds death penalty for men convicted of murdering British backpackers", "Koh Tao DNA evidence & international standards", "Thai court upholds death penalty for murder of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller", "Thailand backpacker murders: Burmese workers sentenced to death", "Thailand beach murders: A flawed and muddled investigation", "Koh Tao murders: DNA matches, confessions obtained, crime re-enacted", "Hearings Open Into Killings of Two British Tourists on Thai Island (Published 2014)", "Thai king commutes death sentence for Myanmar men in British tourist murder case", "Burmese men confess to killing British tourists on Koh Tao, Thai police say", "The Investigation Into Thailand's Backpacker Slayings Is Officially a Farce", "Migrants accused of murder of British couple in Thailand recant confessions", "Thai Dictator Faces Ire Over Murder Probe", "Koh Tao murder suspects plead not guilty", "Burmese pair to be executed for murder of British tourists on Koh Tao, Thailand", "2 Sentenced to Death in Killing of British Tourists in Thailand (Published 2015)", "Thailand murders: Two men found guilty and face death for UK killings", "Thai beach murders: Convicted men lose death sentence appeal", "Thai beach murders: Death sentence upheld by Supreme Court", "Backpacker's family 'grateful' for Thai king's clemency", "Koh Tao pair claim they were tortured before confessing", "Thai beach murders: DNA investigation into death of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller 'incompetent at best', "Koh Tao murders: suspects in killing of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge say they were framed", "Koh Tao's dark side: dangers of island where Britons were murdered", "Thai Paradise Gains Reputation as 'Death Island', "Foreign Office calls in Thai diplomat over murder inquiry concerns", "Thailand murder suspects can't have British police report: UK judge", "Thai officials on alert as Myanmar protests spread", "Prayut lashes out at Myanmar Koh Tao protestors", "Thailand's Migrant Worker Woes Exposed in Koh Tao Murder Case", "Govt vows "high-tech" defence against hackers", "Island killings prompt stiffer worker rules", "Contesting narratives: the Koh Tao tourists murders", "Unofficial translation of Koh Samui Provincial Court No. Their findings were never made public, but were shared with the families of the victims. Ten days after he went missing from Sairee Beach on Koh Tao, the body of Swiss tourist Hans Peter Suter, 44, was washed ashore at Talay Ngam beach in Lang Suan district of Chumphon province on Tuesday, November 18, 2014. The autopsy stated he had drowned. With crystal clear water and stunning greenery, the Thai island of Koh Tao is seen as a backpacker haven. It has over 100 hotels and resorts and was deemed the busiest diving centre in Southeast Asia in 2014. Luke Miller, a bricklayer from the Isle of Wight, was found dead in a swimming pool at the Sunset Bar at Sairee Beach on January 8 2016, with an inquest earlier this month finding "no evidence" he was murdered. She said: "I would tell them to do everything in their power to stop them going. [1][4][24] Witheridge's body indicated she had been raped. "We're more and more thinking that the police information is not the right explanation.". Local police claimed he had fallen 50 feet and . It will take a bit of time to find loopholes to appeal. Understanding powerlessness and vulnerability of migrants across Thailand, when combined with widespread criticism of this murder investigation and allegations of powerful actors influencing developments continues to produce deep distrust or suspicion that the real people responsible for . Some sources also refer to Wai Phyo as Win Zaw Htun. Thai police claim Elise hung herself - but her devastated mother does not believe them, and thinks somebody else was involved. Fototeka is a large photo digitation service that works in conjunction with the National Film Archive to enhance historically relevant vintage photographs. Ive never been happier than here, David, a 24-year-old on holiday with friends, told relatives in Jersey in what was to be his last phone call home. We'll be dignified for David. A judge found the workers guilty and sentenced them to death despite questions about DNA evidence and the police handling of the case. Hannah Witheridge and David Miller koh tao, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo koh tao, dimitri povse koh tao, christina annesley koh tao, Valentina Novozhyonova koh tao, luke miller koh tao, Elise Dallemagne koh tao, Bernd grotsch koh tao, Alexandr Bucspun koh tao, The frightening case of the Trailside Killer David Carpenter, The Yosemite National Park Sightseer Murders and the two faces of evil, The mysterious Koh Tao - Death Island in Paradise, Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, The coroner concluded there was not enough evidence to say where or how he met his death. It just doesn't go away.". Police and court systems were hacked or taken offline in the following days, and a stash of personal information obtained from the court's servers was posted publicly. 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. 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. [33][34] Over 200 individuals on the island, many of them migrant workers, were tested in mass DNA testing. The team were only allowed to spend two hours on Koh Tao and did not meet with the suspects or defence. CONFESSION WITHDRAWN: Burmese suspect claims he was beaten, tortured by police. Thai police say the man on the left matches the one seen acting suspiciously on CCTV A Scottish man is being kept in protective custody in Thailand after a photo he took could identify the. 29, was found hanging from the beginning, the thai island of Koh Tao Dallemagne! Archive to enhance historically relevant vintage photographs hotel at night and were jumped by 2 Burmese men that police! The beam of a safe haven has since shattered following the brutal deaths of a rented house January. 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